Trump Administration Shares TSA Data With ICE for Mass Deportations

The Trump administration has implemented a previously undisclosed data-sharing program where the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) provides passenger lists to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) several times per week. Launched in March, the initiative allows ICE to cross-reference air traveler names against deportation databases and deploy agents to airports for arrests. The program is coordinated primarily through the Pacific Enforcement Response Center in California, which transmits flight details and alerts to field offices.

This effort is part of a broader strategy to leverage federal data from the IRS, Veterans Affairs, and SNAP benefits to reach a target of 3,000 arrests per day. Documented arrests include Marta Brizeyda Renderos Leiva at Salt Lake City Airport in October and Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College student detained at Boston Logan Airport on November 20 and deported to Honduras two days later.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the program, stating it reverses a previous policy that allowed undocumented immigrants to fly domestically without identification. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin asserted that the message to those in the country illegally is that the only reason to fly is to self-deport. In a related national security push, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced the use of Palantir track-and-trace technology to locate and remove approximately 18,000 documented terrorists who entered the U.S. via the southern border.

Human Rights First condemned the initiative, arguing that the program attempts to terrorize immigrant communities and makes individuals afraid to leave their homes for fear of being arbitrarily detained.