The TSA Is Giving the Names of All Air Travelers to ICE
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
The Transportation Security Administration provides Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports.
The TSA has submitted lists of names to the immigration agency several times a week since the program began in March, The New York Times reported Friday. ICE then checks the travelers’ information against its own internal list of people subject to deportation.
Although the number of people deported under this program is unknown, documents obtained by The times show that at least two high-profile arrests were made based on TSA information.
One was All Lucía López Bellozathe student arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport on her way to visit family for Thanksgiving, who was met by immigration agents at her door and deported to Honduras two days later.
Boston ICE agents who made the arrest were alerted by an ICE office in California, the Pacific Enforcement Response Center, which flagged Balloza’s travel information. The bureau also noted that their information was part of a collaboration “with the Transportation Security Administration to send actionable leads to the field regarding aliens with a final order of deportation who appear to have an imminent flight planned.”
This same office also used TSA information to trick authorities into arresting Marta Brizeyda Renderos Leiva at a Salt Lake City airport in October.
A former ICE official with knowledge of the program said The times that the TSA gave ICE agents photos of potential targets, as well as passengers’ flight numbers and departure times.
Although airlines have previously provided passenger information to the TSA to compare with federal databases, the agency has generally stayed away from domestic criminal or immigration matters, said a former agency official, who spoke with The times under condition of anonymity.
The former official said part of that distance came from concerns that increased screening activities at airports could disrupt airport security.
“If more agents make arrests at airports, it puts more strain on the system, delays and complications may inconvenience and frighten some travelers, and those who are unsure of their status will stay away from air travel,” a former ICE official said. Claire Trickler-McNulty said. “This will continue to reduce the space where people feel safe to go about their business. »
