US Immigration Crackdown Reaches Airports... "Green Card Applicants, Visa Extension Waiters Arrested"

As the U.S. administration under Donald Trump expands its immigration crackdown to airports, cases of green card applicants and employment visa extension seekers being arrested—who were previously not primary targets—are mounting.

Signs of intensified enforcement are emerging, including reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun enforcement operations even in New York, a sanctuary city for immigrants.

According to the U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) on the 28th (local time), plainclothes ICE agents have arrested foreigners at check-in counters and boarding gates across at least 15 airports in recent weeks.

In the past, airport enforcement by ICE primarily targeted immigrants with deportation orders, but the NYT reported that the scope has recently expanded to include individuals whose visas have expired but are currently undergoing visa extension or green card application procedures.

Those targeted for arrest included a person married to a U.S. citizen who is in the process of applying for a green card, and an engineer waiting for an employment visa extension.

This expansion of enforcement is interpreted as a result of a widened scope of information-sharing cooperation between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and ICE.

While ICE previously conducted airport crackdowns by sharing airline information with the TSA to locate immigrants subject to deportation orders, the NYT explained that the scope now appears to have broadened to include immigrants staying in the U.S. beyond their authorized periods.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of immigrants and visitors overstay the periods specified on their visas in the U.S. each year.

Among them are individuals whose visas have expired but who hold work authorization while waiting for visa extensions or green card reviews.

Those in this legally ambiguous territory were previously not a priority for deportation unless they had criminal records, and detention while awaiting review was rare. However, under the Trump administration, overstaying a visa itself is reportedly being viewed as illegal and treated as a target for enforcement.

An immigration attorney representing an Indian engineer detained while waiting for a work permit extension told the NYT, "I've been practicing immigration law for 38 years, and I've never seen anything like this."

Consequently, observers note that immigrants now feel cautious even about moving within the United States.

Shannon Shepherd, an immigration attorney in Chicago, said, "Previously, I used to say 'You can travel domestically as long as you have an ID,' but now I'm changing my advice to 'Avoid traveling if you are in the middle of a status change process.'"

Alongside this, it has been reported that ICE crackdowns have begun in New York, which has pursued immigrant protection policies.

U.S. news channel NewsNation reported that ICE has launched immigration enforcement operations in Queens, New York City, and plans to expand them to Long Island afterward.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has previously maintained a critical stance toward ICE crackdowns and recently called for the abolition of ICE following a series of immigrant deaths during ICE enforcement operations.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.