Overview
- The TSA and ICE signed a memorandum on May 29, 2025 that enabled Secure Flight passenger matches to be sent to ICE and those matches are now used to identify and stop travelers at airports.
- Interior arrests have climbed sharply under the operation, with reporting and datasets showing more than 571,000 administrative ICE arrests since January 20, 2025 and a record near 51,000 detentions in August 2026.
- A large share of people taken into ICE custody have no criminal convictions on record; researchers reported that in July 2026 only about 27 percent of arrests later linked to custody involved prior criminal convictions.
- Removals have not kept pace with arrests because deportation requires aircraft and receiving-country cooperation, and several deportation aircraft remain uncertified or limited by host-country caps.
- Legal and local pushback is growing: courts have ordered releases in cases where paperwork was defective, municipalities have sought limits on airport cooperation, and authorities are investigating specific incidents such as the Dougherty County traffic stop.