ICE Is Using Airline Passenger Data to Make Airport Arrests, but an Expired I-94 May Not Tell the Whole Story

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 28: An ICE agent stands alongside a long line of travelers waiting to pass through a TSA Checkpoint at the Philadelphia International Airport on March 28, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. TSA agents have worked without pay for over a month during a partial government shutdown. U.S. President Donald Trump deployed ICE agents to U.S. airports on Monday, and on Friday he issued an executive order instructing DHS to pay TSA agents. (Credit: Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not simply walking through airports and choosing passengers at random. A formal data-sharing system allows the agency to know who plans to fly, and potentially where and when to find them.

Major U.S. airlines are now speaking with ICE and the Transportation Security Administration amid an increase in immigration arrests at airports, according to an Aug. 12 Washington Examiner report.