Washington (CNN) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at US airports are raising alarm among attorneys who say they are happening more frequently, citing a series of incidents where passengers have been abruptly swept up by agents when they’re traveling.
The federal agency, which is charged with the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants, remains under pressure to deliver on President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda. That includes meeting the administration’s goal of around 2,000 arrests a day.
Arrests at airports are part of a broader effort by ICE agents to use various enforcement tactics to increase arrests, including most recently, focusing on people with expired visas who are traveling.
This month, for example, a woman was detained at a Washington, DC-area airport on her way home to Texas to gather with family for her father’s funeral, according to Joe Moravec, an immigration attorney who’s representing her. The woman, who asked not to be identified, entered the US legally and is in the asylum process. She is now being held in Virginia.
Moravec said another one of his clients was detained at a Chicago airport. That client was also legally in the United States and is now being held by ICE, he said.
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that “this administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
“Not that an airport is a sacred place, but for sure, enforcement at airports is nothing we’ve ever seen, neither is cooperation between TSA and ICE,” said Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“That’s the mousetrap. That’s the cheese,” he added, referring to people who are in the immigration process and being detained at airports. “If the new expectation is that if you have a pending application, you can’t travel … that would be very, very new.”
Senior Homeland Security officials made changes to their enforcement operations on the heels of two fatal shootings involving ICE officers this month. Both incidents, one in Houston and another in Maine, started when ICE initiated traffic stops. While arrests at airports are not a new strategy under the Trump administration, it’s one that lawyers and advocates say is increasingly happening.
“When you’re under pressure to ramp up arrests, it’s all about what is the fastest and easiest way to get people into custody,” said John Sandweg, former acting ICE director under the Obama administration.
There are a number of reasons agents may choose to conduct arrests at airports. The Department of Homeland Security already receives every passenger’s information before their flight through the Transportation Security Administration.
The terminal also provides a secure setting where agents know no one is armed, Sandweg said.
“It makes for an easy immigration arrest for ICE,” Sandweg said. “You can now take custody of that person in a secure environment. They come to you. You know exactly when and where they’re going to be. And because you’re getting them in a secure environment, you need less agents.”
In another statement to CNN, a Homeland Security spokesperson declined to confirm an uptick in ICE arrests at airports.
“For operational security reasons, we are not going to confirm the locations of our officers,” the spokesperson said, adding that the department has deported a total of nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants as of July 12.
Here’s what we know about some of the arrests that happened at airports.
ICE agents leave man with one wrist handcuffed
An attempted arrest at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas ended when ICE agents walked away leaving a man on the ground with one handcuff on.
The two agents were trying to forcibly detain the man on July 13 when onlookers confronted them, according to police and federal officials. A TSA officer told bystanders to keep back, video of the attempted arrest shows.
The man being arrested was identified as Phu Nguyen, 57, in the US on an expired visa, according to DHS. After a “crowd of anti-ICE agitators surrounded officers,” they stopped the arrest to “de-escalate the situation and for officer safety,” a statement from the department said.
Las Vegas police removed the handcuff from his wrist and he was released after they determined he had no outstanding warrants.
Nguyen, a citizen of Australia who was born in Vietnam, was taken into custody the next day when he landed at Los Angeles International Airport. His two-year visa had expired in 2015, DHS said.
“Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws. He will receive full due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings,” the department said.
When asked about the attempted arrest of Nguyen, the Clark County Department of Aviation, which runs the Las Vegas airport, said it recognizes “that incidents such as this may raise questions and concerns among the traveling public.”
“We work closely with our federal law enforcement partners to support the safe and secure operation of the airport,” the statement said.
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant is detained
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant was also taken into custody this month while on the job at Nashville International Airport.
Lorenzo Thompson was arrested on July 14, DHS confirmed in a statement to CNN. The agency says the Jamaican citizen came to the US on April 17, 2021, with a six-month visa.
“Against our nation’s laws, he overstayed his visa and failed to depart,” the agency said. “He will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings.”
Southwest’s flight attendants’ union, Transport Workers Union Local 556, said they are working with Thompson’s attorney to understand the situation and provide support.
“Every member deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we are committed to ensuring this member and their family know they are not alone during this difficult time,” the union’s post said.
‘ICE is here, help us’
A woman traveling home was arrested on a jet bridge at Denver International Airport as she tried to board a Southwest Airlines flight on July 20, video showed.
The Department of Homeland Security told CNN in a statement Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas of Ecuador, was arrested by ICE after she overstayed her visa, which expired on January 4, 2025.
“These two huge guys rushed in behind us … and someone slammed the door behind us,” her friend told CNN. “I was kind of terrified being stuck in this room with these men who were about to steal my friend.”
Video showed two men in plainclothes speaking with Morales Rojas before she’s escorted out of the jet bridge.
“ICE is here, help us!” the friend yells to other passengers at the gate.
Morales Rojas’ attorneys said in a statement she entered the country lawfully on January 2023 with legal status that allowed her to work as an au pair.
She filed an application to stay in the country, but that did not provide her with formal immigration status.
“During the last three-and-a-half years, Morales Rojas lived openly in the United States with the government’s knowledge of her pending case, passed repeated background checks, and received work authorization from DHS while waiting for her application to be reviewed,” a statement from her attorney said. “Morales Rojas has no criminal history or other concerns, and the process she’s pursuing is completely lawful.”
DHS told CNN in a statement that just because she was pursing the process of legally staying in the US, that did not mean she was allowed to stay.
“A pending application and work authorization does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States,” the statement said.
Morales Rojas’ attorneys challenged her arrest and detention in court, and she is set to be released on bond.
Airlines typically do not comment on law enforcement activities, but Southwest told CNN it follows applicable state and federal laws.
“The airline has provided guidance to employees to help ensure appropriate legal documentation is presented by law enforcement agencies prior to interactions in the gate areas,” the airline said in a statement. “Southwest is committed to providing a safe travel experience for all customers and employees.”
Ukrainian woman detained in San Francisco
“Please help me,” a woman yelled on July 22 near gate B7 at San Francisco International Airport.
ICE agents were attempting to arrest Iryna Gorb, a Ukrainian national, who, according to DHS, tried to flee and resisted arrest.
Richmond, California Councilwoman Doria Robinson was waiting for a flight when she said she heard a woman screaming “please help me.”
She said she started recording video after she turned around and saw two men in plain clothes grab the woman and detain her in front of an airport shop.
Robinson said she didn’t see any law enforcement identification. Some travelers were standing nearby trying to help, she said.
DHS said in a statement that Gorb had overstayed her visa, which expired in 2011. She remains in custody.
Gorb is from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, according to a previous fundraiser verified by GoFundMe.
“Her family home in Kharkiv was shelled and destroyed, so she’s been using nearly all her earnings to support her family, who found refuge in Europe,” it said.
Kharkiv is located about 19 miles from the Russian border and has been heavily targeted by Russian attacks throughout the war.
“Iryna Gorb made a home in San Francisco and is one of many people who help make San Francisco run,” state Sen. Scott Wiener said. “Iryna committed no crime, but ICE nevertheless violently grabbed her and is now trying to deport her to Ukraine, a war zone currently being invaded and bombed by Putin.”
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