In the last few weeks, there have been news reports confirming ICE activity at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Denver International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, and Nashville International Airport.
In addition, L.A. TACO has received tips about arrests at LAX, SFO, Burbank, Ontario, and Washington Ronald Reagan Airport. The Community Self Defense Coalition has registered “around 20” calls about ICE detentions at LAX. And while on-the-ground sources at LAX have not been able to confirm activity, CHIRLA has spoken with the subjects of five confirmed individual cases.
So why the uptick in airport targets?
“Generally, ICE is arresting folks at LAX,” Jehan Laner, managing attorney at Immigrant Legal Resource Center, tells L.A. TACO. “The majority of these folks are people who have final orders.”
Laner adds that people who have won protection under the Convention Against Torture may be protected from being deported back to their home country, thus feeling safe to travel within the U.S. However, the Trump administration is still trying to deport them to a third country.