ICE Agents Ask Airport Gate Workers to Help Identify and Detain Passengers
BY STACEY VAN DER MERWE Published on August 19, 2026
The requests, described by employees speaking to Time magazine and People, mark a shift in how federal immigration officers operate inside airport terminals. Workers say agents have approached them at gates, asked for passenger manifests, and requested help pulling specific travelers aside before boarding.
What airline workers are being asked to do
Gate agents told reporters that ICE officers have shown up at boarding areas and asked for information about passengers on upcoming flights. In some cases, agents requested that employees delay boarding, call specific travelers to the podium, or confirm identities using airline systems.
One gate agent quoted by People said, "I don't want to be doing this." The worker described feeling caught between following instructions from federal officers and concerns about the role airline employees are being pulled into.
Airline employees are not trained in immigration enforcement, and their standard duties involve checking travel documents for boarding purposes, not verifying immigration status. Several workers said they felt uncertain about their legal obligations when approached by ICE.
Pushback from employees and unions
Some airline workers have refused to cooperate, according to the Time report. Union representatives for airport staff have raised concerns about the requests, arguing that gate agents should not be acting as extensions of federal law enforcement.
Labor groups representing airline workers have advised members that they are not required to share passenger information with ICE unless agents present a judicial warrant. Administrative warrants issued by ICE, which are different from warrants signed by a judge, do not carry the same legal weight and do not compel private employees to act.
Workers who spoke to reporters said they worry about passenger safety, the potential for mistakes, and the strain the requests place on employees trying to do their jobs during busy travel periods.
Broader enforcement push
The airport requests come as ICE has expanded operations across the country. According to reporting from AOL, ICE deported more than 100 people in a recent enforcement action, part of a broader push by the Trump administration to increase removals.
Federal officials have defended the expanded tactics, saying agents are targeting people with final removal orders or criminal records. Critics, including immigration attorneys and civil liberties groups, say the operations have swept up people without criminal histories and pushed enforcement into spaces where travelers do not expect to encounter federal agents.
Airports occupy a legal gray area. Areas past security checkpoints are considered federal spaces where agents have broader authority, but gate areas and terminals still involve private airline operations and employees who are not part of law enforcement.
How airlines are responding
Major carriers have not publicly outlined uniform policies on how their employees should respond to ICE requests at gates. Some airlines have told staff internally to route federal law enforcement requests to corporate security or legal teams rather than handling them at the gate level.
Aviation industry observers say the situation puts airlines in a difficult spot. Carriers rely on federal agencies for many aspects of their operations, from air traffic control to security screening, and open conflict with ICE could complicate those relationships. At the same time, involving customer-facing employees in immigration arrests carries reputational and legal risks.
What passengers should know
Immigration attorneys interviewed for the Time and People reports offered guidance for travelers who may be approached by ICE at an airport. They said passengers have the right to remain silent, the right to ask whether they are free to leave, and the right to request an attorney.
Attorneys also noted that US citizens are not required to carry proof of citizenship for domestic travel, though showing identification is part of standard airline boarding procedures.
For non-citizens, legal experts recommend carrying documentation of lawful status when traveling and knowing the difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant. Only a judicial warrant, signed by a judge, allows agents to compel entry into private spaces or force compliance from third parties.
Ongoing scrutiny
Members of Congress from both parties have asked for more information about ICE operations at airports. Some lawmakers have requested briefings on the scope of the enforcement activity and the legal basis for asking airline employees to participate.
Civil rights groups have said they are monitoring the situation and may pursue legal action if they find evidence of unlawful searches or coercion of private employees. For now, gate agents across the country continue to navigate the requests case by case, often without clear direction from their employers.
Multiple airline employees say ICE officers are increasingly showing up unannounced, demanding help apprehending travelers without providing judicial warrants
Published on August 19, 2026 05:08PM EDT
When Laurie, a gate agent, reported to her job at an airport she received a call from a colleague warning her members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were asking airline staff to help locate a passenger.
It was a familiar tale. Just 10 days earlier, Laurie says two men in plain clothes approached another gate agent, identified themselves only as federal officers, and asked the employee to grab a passenger. Laurie, the manager on duty, tells Time she received no notice of their arrival.
The officers told her they were ICE agents and showed their badges, which she says weren’t visible in plain sight. An announcement was then made over the airport’s PA system, a woman approached, and she was subsequently taken into custody.
Laurie says she then asked to see a warrant, which the officers claimed was in their car. She claims to have followed the officers and witnessed them placing the woman in an unmarked vehicle with an out-of-state license plate. An officer allegedly showed an administrative warrant rather than a judicial warrant signed by a judge.
“Well, this isn’t a criminal. This is immigration, it’s different,” the officer allegedly told her, before driving away. “Because I hadn’t seen this before, I was kind of freaking out, thinking, ‘What do I do?’ ” said Laurie, who asked the outlet to use a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation and was not authorized by her employer to speak publicly.
According to Time, multiple gate agents in Colorado, Texas, and Arizona have reported a recurring presence of ICE agents in recent weeks. They say the individuals have repeatedly asked them to help identify or locate passengers, provide information from internal airline systems, or grant access to restricted areas like jet bridges and aircraft.
Laurie says the procedures are a departure from how she’s worked with federal officers in the past: when they notify airlines about their arrival in advance, wear clearly identifiable uniforms with badges, and provide a judicial warrant for arrests.
According to a report from NBC News earlier this month citing a senior Department of Homeland Security official, ICE officers have more than doubled arrests at airports nationwide since widespread immigration enforcement began last summer. The average is around 20 to 40 per day, up from fewer than 10 per day last year.
The increase in arrests is aided by expanded sharing of travelers’ information between federal agencies, according to Time. Since May 2025, ICE has had access to TSA information through a previously undisclosed data-sharing program. Watchdog group American Oversight made the discovery in a declassified memo dated May 5, 2025.
In a statement, a Homeland Security spokesperson told Time officers are “simply enforcing our nation’s laws and following all applicable laws and established policies.”
“When DHS components operate in the same transportation environment, they coordinate as appropriate to support public safety, security, and lawful operations while minimizing disruption to the traveling public,” the statement added.
Laurie says the increased presence has caused her, and many other gate agents, to face an internal debate.
“I’ve gone to agents who have been involved with any ICE agent,” Laurie said. “Most of them are just like, ‘I don’t want to be doing this. Like, why are we helping them?’”
PEOPLE reached out to DHS for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Videos of the incident, which occurred on the evening of Sunday, March 22, have since circulated online
Updated on March 25, 2026 04:00PM EDT
A lawsuit filed last month also alleges that ICE officials gave sensitive information on asylum seekers to Iran, which ICE denies
Published on August 19, 2026 02:20PM EDT
- ICE deported over 100 Iranian nationals in 2025 despite escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, according to a new report
- Deportations included activists and minorities who feared persecution and faced challenges due to Iran’s lack of cooperation
- A lawsuit alleges ICE shared sensitive asylum seeker information with Iran, which the agency denies
