Airlines push back as ICE airport arrests reach 36 daily

Federal immigration agents are making up to 36 arrests per day at U.S. airports, forcing airlines to confront a new enforcement reality at their gates and jet bridges.

ICE officers made between one and three dozen arrests daily at U.S. airports last month, escalating enforcement that has pushed airlines to refuse boarding access without judicial warrants and triggered industry-wide safety concerns.

"I'm worried about escalation — I'm worried about bystanders," said Phil Washington, who until recently served as chief executive of Denver International Airport.

The enforcement push follows a directive from ICE leadership to target travelers at TSA checkpoints, but agents have broadened operations to gates and ticket counters from San Francisco to Miami and Kansas City. TSA has shared passenger manifests with ICE since last summer, leading to hundreds of arrests, according to people familiar with the matter.

The escalation comes as ICE leaders face White House pressure to reach roughly 2,000 arrests per day nationwide, and it has thrust airlines into a legal gray zone over administrative warrants, passenger data sharing, and workplace safety.

On July 25, an ICE officer attempted to board a Southwest Airlines flight in Dallas to make an arrest but was rebuffed by the airline, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The incident was among at least a half-dozen similar encounters with Southwest in recent weeks, a person familiar with the matter said. Airline gate agents declined to let ICE board without a judicial warrant signed by a judge, citing policies about disclosing passenger information.

ICE Air Operations, the agency's aviation division, coordinated 1,889 immigration enforcement flights in June — a 59 percent increase from June 2025, according to ICE Flight Monitor data compiled by Human Rights First. The flights transport detained immigrants between facilities and on deportation routes, with detainees fully restrained using handcuffs, waist chains, and leg irons per ICE policy.

The legal friction at the gate

The Dallas incident highlights a core dispute: ICE agents carry administrative warrants signed by ICE supervisors, not independent federal judges. Airlines have argued these do not provide sufficient legal basis to board aircraft or share passenger data. In late July, airline-industry representatives met with Department of Homeland Security staffers to discuss enforcement protocols.

Southwest said it follows state and federal law when dealing with law-enforcement agencies and has policies "to ensure appropriate legal documentation is presented by law enforcement personnel before any information about customers is shared." JetBlue said it does not collect information regarding customers' immigration status and has "no program or partnership in place to identify or report customers based on immigration status to government agencies."

The Association of Flight Attendants wrote to carriers in March expressing alarm at ICE presence in airports. "The actions that federal enforcement authorities have taken in our workplaces have raised glaring workplace, safety and legal concerns for flight attendants," Sara Nelson, international president of the union, wrote in the letter.

Passenger encounters escalate

Late last month in Denver, ICE officers arrested a woman on a jet bridge for a Southwest flight, an incident captured on video. In Las Vegas, ICE officers arrested a woman waiting to board a JetBlue flight, telling her she had overstayed her visa and had a final order of removal. At an airport in the South in July, ICE requested a different airline's help to access a jet bridge to arrest a father traveling with his wife and children — the airline declined, and the family did not show up for the flight.

Many people being taken into custody haven't traditionally been targeted by ICE. While earlier cases primarily involved immigrants with final deportation orders, the arrests now include people with expired visas but another form of legal status pending, such as a green card or asylum application. ICE has argued the expired visas are grounds for arrest.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the department is "simply enforcing our nation's laws and established policy."

The enforcement escalation carries operational and reputational risk for U.S. carriers. Airlines face potential passenger disruption, crew safety concerns, and legal exposure if they are seen as either obstructing federal law enforcement or cooperating too readily. Airlines for America, the trade group representing major U.S. carriers, said airlines have had "constructive discussions with ICE and TSA to ensure if law-enforcement activity occurs at an airport, there are proper procedures and protocols in place to prioritize the safety and security of all involved."

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