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.
Even so, lawyers, immigration organizations, and responders are reporting an uptick in arrests of people on international and domestic flights who do not have a stable lawful status in the country. This especially includes people who have pending applications, a scheduled court hearing, or an appointment. Folks being arrested believe that because they’re currently doing it the legal way, they are safe. The truth is, until your status is official, resulting in something such as legal residency, you could be vulnerable.
It’s part of a new strategy and approach that we’ve been seeing the Trump regime build up to recently, creating policy changes that lead to the scheduling of court and appointment dates for renewals past DACA or visa holders' expiration dates, among other strategies to hinder legal pathways.
In essence, Trump is targeting folks who are “doing it the right way” and creating more vulnerable targets for ICE to go after.
This was the situation that Maria Rosales, who was arrested at Boston Logan Airport, found herself in. She is a DACA recipient whose latest renewal has stalled for three years, according to NBC Boston. ICE claims she overstayed her visa when she arrived at the age of four. She was arrested with her friend, David Ardila, who has a pending asylum petition. They were both traveling home to Seattle after attending a show at Fenway Park and a World Cup match.
The common trend we’re seeing is that most people who have been taken at airports seemingly overstayed expired visas or have pending asylum applications.
This is the case with Lorenzo Thompson, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who was arrested at Nashville International Airport following a work trip.
According to The Independent, “colleagues and supporters say Lorenzo Thompson held a valid work permit and had an active asylum application pending when he was taken into custody.” According to DHS, Thompson overstayed his 6-month visa from 2021.
In a statement to Channel 9 News in Denver, regarding a viral arrest video of Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas at Denver airport, ICE stated that “A ‘work permit’ and/or a pending asylum case does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States or prevent ICE from arresting or deporting an illegal alien from the country.”
In a viral video that surfaced online, a man and a woman in plain clothes were seen attempting to apprehend a man identified as 57-year-old Phu Nguyen at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 14 at around 6:00 p.m.
Bystanders gathered around the three and recorded the incident, prompting the man and woman to walk away, leaving Nguyen alone.
According to the Associated Press, DHS said that Nguyen is a Vietnamese-born Australian citizen who overstayed his visa in the United States.
The Los Angeles ICE/ERO Field Office released a statement on X confirming that the two plainclothes officers were indeed ICE agents.
“ICE Los Angeles arrested Phu Nguyen, 57, of Vietnam, at LAX, July 14,” the statement reads. “Nguyen overstayed his visa and, despite attempts by agitators to help him evade ICE officers at Las Vegas airport, was taken into custody as soon as he landed in Los Angeles.”
In a statement to L.A. TACO, DHS said that “Nguyen entered the United States legally on May 27, 2013, with permission to remain in the United States until May 26, 2015” but that he “refused to depart, in violation of our nation’s laws.”
“He will receive full due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings,” they added.
DHS did not respond to our questions about possible directives to heighten ICE’s presence at some international airports across the country.
According to reporting by KTNV, DHS says the ICE agents chose not to arrest Nguyen in Las Vegas due to the crowd surrounding them, citing officer safety.
Recently, community defense teams have highlighted an increase in detainments at LAX, noting one detainment that occurred just before boarding.
L.A. TACO spoke with Mike Van Gorder, a member of the Burbank Community Defense Coalition, a group of rapid responders for ICE sightings and detainments in the Burbank area, about these ICE detainments at the Los Angeles International Airport.
“The broader L.A. regional community defense coalition has taken reports of abductions behind security at LAX,” Van Gorder says. “[One] victim was grabbed around 11 a.m. while attempting to board a domestic flight.”
In a statement sent to L.A. TACO, a representative for Community Self Defense Coalition (CSDC), an organization in Los Angeles that does community watch as well as offers aftercare to families affected by ICE, said they “want to remind folks that even people who are ‘low-risk’ are being kidnapped.”
“Pending applications for asylum, work permits, or any type of immigration relief do not guarantee protection from detention or deportation," CSDC says.
Editor's Note: The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) recently awarded L.A. TACO with a recognition for our work covering ICE raids.
