US airport crackdown widens: Domestic travellers with visa issues at risk

Reports say ICE is expanding airport enforcement, raising concerns for immigrants with visa extensions or green cards pending

Foreign nationals with expired US visas are increasingly being detained by immigration authorities while travelling on flights within the United States, marking a significant expansion of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, according to the New York Times. The development could be particularly relevant for thousands of Indian students, H-1B professionals and green card applicants living in the US whose immigration status is under renewal or transition.

 

The report said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have carried out arrests at airports in recent weeks, including at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival areas. Many of those detained reportedly had no criminal record and were instead waiting for visa extensions, green cards or asylum decisions.

 

What has changed?

According to The Times, the latest enforcement appears to expand an existing information-sharing arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and ICE.

 

The newspaper reported that the programme had previously focused on people with deportation orders. However, it now appears to include travellers whose visas have expired, even if they have pending immigration applications or valid work authorisation while awaiting a decision.

 

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not confirm the reported expansion of the programme. However, a DHS spokesperson told The Times that the administration is working to ensure that people living in the US illegally “can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport”.

 

The reported move comes as the Trump administration continues its broader push for tougher immigration enforcement and higher daily arrest targets.

 

Who is reportedly being detained?

 

According to The Times, immigration lawyers representing more than 25 recently detained individuals said the affected travellers came from over a dozen countries and included people who had entered the US legally.

 

The reported cases include:

 

• Workers waiting for employment-based visa extensions
• Spouses of US citizens applying for permanent residency
• Individuals with pending green card applications
• Asylum applicants

 

Former exchange visitors whose visas had expired but whose immigration cases were still pending

 

The newspaper reported that many of these individuals had previously received work authorisation from US authorities while waiting for their applications to be processed.

 

Why are immigration lawyers concerned?

 

Several immigration lawyers quoted by The New York Times said the enforcement represents a major shift from previous practice.

 

Charles Kuck, an immigration attorney based in Atlanta, told the newspaper that in nearly four decades of practice he had never seen airport enforcement of this nature. He said one of his clients, an Indian engineer awaiting a work permit extension, was among those detained.

 

Shannon Shepherd, vice-chair of the Chicago chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told The Times that lawyers are now revising their long-standing advice on domestic travel.

 

According to the report, she said that while non-citizens with valid identification were previously considered generally safe to fly within the US, people whose immigration status is changing are now being advised to avoid domestic air travel until their cases are resolved.

 

Another immigration lawyer, Ghassan Shamieh, told the newspaper that the authorities were casting a much wider net and that many of those being detained had legitimate pending immigration applications rather than criminal records.

 

Why should Indians in the US pay attention?

 

India has one of the largest communities of temporary visa holders in the United States, including H-1B professionals, international students, researchers and family-based immigrants.

 

Many Indian nationals spend months — or even years — waiting for:

 

• H-1B extensions
• Employment authorisation renewals
• Green card processing
• Adjustment of status approvals

 

Although The New York Times report does not suggest that Indian nationals are being specifically targeted, it indicates that foreign nationals with expired visas but pending immigration cases may now face greater scrutiny while travelling domestically.

 

One of the cases cited in the report involved an Indian engineer awaiting a work permit extension.

 

What does this mean for travellers?

 

The reported enforcement does not affect every non-US citizen travelling within the country. However, immigration lawyers told The New York Times that people with expired visas, pending immigration applications or unresolved changes in immigration status should carefully evaluate the risks before booking domestic flights.

 

Those with immigration cases in progress may also wish to seek legal advice before travelling and ensure they carry all relevant immigration documents if travel is unavoidable.

 

While the US government has not released official figures on the number of airport detentions under the reported initiative, the developments suggest that domestic air travel is becoming another point of immigration enforcement for certain categories of non-citizens under the current administration.