U.S. Immigration Crackdown Reaches Airports, Arresting Green Card Applicants and Visa Renewal Seekers

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

Signs of intensified enforcement are emerging, with reports indicating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations have also begun 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 foreign nationals at check-in counters and boarding gates across at least 15 airports in recent weeks.

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

Those targeted for arrest include individuals married to U.S. citizens who are in the process of applying for green cards, as well as engineers waiting for employment visa extensions.

This expansion of enforcement is attributed to a broadened cooperation in information sharing between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and ICE.

In the past, ICE conducted airport crackdowns by sharing airline information with the TSA to track down immigrants subject to deportation orders, but the scope now appears to have widened to include immigrants staying in the U.S. beyond their authorized periods, according to the NYT.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of immigrants and visitors overstay their visa-specified periods in the U.S. every year.

Among them are individuals whose visas have expired but who have received work authorization while waiting for visa renewals or green card evaluations.

Occupying a legally ambiguous gray area, these individuals were previously not prioritized 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 treated as unlawful and a target for enforcement.

An immigration attorney representing an Indian engineer detained while waiting for a work authorization extension told the NYT, "I have practiced immigration law for 38 years, and I have never seen anything like this."

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

Shannon Shepherd, an immigration attorney in Chicago, said, "Previously, I would say, 'As long as you have an ID, you can travel domestically,' but now I am changing my advice to, 'Avoid traveling if you are undergoing a status change process.'"

Alongside this, ICE enforcement has reportedly begun in New York, a city that has maintained immigrant protection policies.

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

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

(Photo: Getty Images Korea)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.