Report Finds ICE is Using TSA Passenger Lists to Find and Deport People

Under the Trump Administration and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, the TSA has been sending the passenger lists of future flights to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the first time that the TSA is getting involved in domestic law enforcement or immigration. 

The program was revealed last week by a report in the New York Times. The Department of Homeland Security told Travel Weekly, our sister publication, the program has been in place since February, shortly after President Trump took office. 

The program expands TSA’s use of traveler information, which was historically only used to check for people on the federal ‘do not fly’ list or terrorist watchlists. The program provides lists of passengers multiple times each week. 

The New York Times did not say how many people could’ve been found, arrested and deported or placed in detention centers due to the new program, but the Homeland Security commented on the program, in the email, saying it was working hard to ensure that the undocumented “can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.” 

The Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are both nestled under the Department of Homeland Security. 

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