Think your pending green card or work permit keeps you safe at the airport? Think again. The US is now arresting travellers mid-flight check.

Here’s the breakdown:

So, things have just got a whole lot tenser at American airports.

According to a report originally flagged by cbinews.tv citing The New York Times, the United States has quietly started arresting foreign nationals whose visas have expired - right at the airport.

We’re not talking about people trying to sneak in. Officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are reportedly picking people up at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals. The report says it’s happened at at least 15 airports in the last few weeks alone.

And who is getting caught up in it? It’s not just those with deportation orders anymore.

Per the cbinews.tv report, those detained include spouses of US citizens, skilled workers waiting for their visa extensions to come through, former exchange visitors, and others who actually have pending applications to stay legally.

It’s a major shift. Previously, this collaboration between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and ICE focused mainly on people with outstanding deportation orders. But internal Department of Homeland Security documents seen by The New York Times suggest the net has now widened to include visa overstayers - even if they have a pending application and a valid work permit.

To put it in context, hundreds of thousands of people overstay US visas each year, and many end up in legal limbo waiting months for decisions on extensions, green cards, or asylum. In the past, they weren’t generally a priority for deportation unless there was a criminal offence involved.

A Homeland Security spokesperson defended the move, telling The New York Times: “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.”

The department hasn’t officially confirmed the expansion, but the report claims the White House is pushing ICE to hit around 2,000 immigration arrests a day, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said to be driving the target.

Immigration lawyers say clients from more than a dozen countries have been affected - including people with pending asylum claims and marriage-based residency applications.

One case cited is Chantal Morales Rojas, a 27-year-old former au pair from Ecuador, who was detained while boarding a domestic flight despite having a pending application and work authorisation. Another involved a Ugandan woman with sickle cell anaemia who was detained despite an active asylum claim.

As veteran immigration attorney Charles Kuck put it: “In 38 years practising immigration law, I had never seen this. And I know it’s happening to lots of people.”

It’s a story that is still developing. Credit: Original reporting via The New York Times, as reported by cbinews.tv.

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