Bay Area Advocates Urge Noncitizens to Avoid Flights After 10 ICE Airport Arrests Since July 1
Updated
Updated · KQED · Jul 28
Bay Area Advocates Urge Noncitizens to Avoid Flights After 10 ICE Airport Arrests Since July 1
2 articles · Updated · KQED · Jul 28
Summary
More than a dozen people have been detained at Bay Area airports since June 27, local rapid response networks said, prompting immigrant advocates to advise noncitizens to avoid even domestic flights unless travel is urgent.
Santa Clara County alone recorded 10 arrests since July 1—six at San Francisco International and four at San Jose Mineta—while advocates said similar detentions are becoming more regular across the region and nationally.
A June 27 case at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport underscored the shift: an Argentine visa overstay who had flown domestically without issue three months earlier was detained for days before lawyers won his release.
Advocates link the uptick to broader ICE expansion and to TSA sharing passenger data with immigration officials; TSA says such information-sharing within the Department of Homeland Security is routine and legal.
The arrests have hit visa overstays, asylum seekers with open cases and some permanent residents with prior law-enforcement contact, leading lawyers to urge travelers to consult attorneys before flying.