A quiet but consequential shift is underway in how the U.S. government uses airline passenger data. The Transportation Security Administration has begun sharing information about domestic airline travelers with immigration authorities, expanding how routine travel data can be used for enforcement purposes.
TSA Quietly Sharing Passenger Travel Data With Immigration Authorities
Under the new practice, TSA is providing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with lists of airline passengers who have flown domestically within the United States. The data includes passenger names and flight details, which immigration authorities can then cross-reference with their own databases to identify individuals they are seeking, including people suspected of overstaying visas.
TSA does not collect immigration status, and travelers are not being stopped or questioned at airport checkpoints based on this information. Instead, the data is used after travel has already occurred, allowing immigration authorities to determine where and when someone flew and potentially use that information to locate them later.
The change appears to have taken place quietly, starting in March 2025, without public announcement or congressional debate. Government officials have said the information sharing is lawful and limited, describing it as cooperation between agencies within the Department of Homeland Security.
When asked about the change, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, pictured above, did not deny it. Quite the contrary, she defended it:
“The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should be flying is to self-deport home.”
Scott Mechkowski, a former senior ICE official, added, “This isn’t about fear; it’s about restoring order and ensuring every American knows their government enforces its laws without apology.”
How This Changes Domestic Travel
For most travelers, flying within the United States has long felt routine and detached from immigration enforcement. Passenger information is generally understood to be collected for aviation security, not as a tracking tool for later immigration enforcement actions.
Using domestic airline manifests in this way represents a meaningful shift. It blurs the line between security screening and immigration enforcement, and it expands the role of TSA beyond what many travelers assume it does. While airlines already share certain data with the government, repurposing everyday travel records for deportation efforts changes how that information functions.
If airline travel data can be used this way, it is reasonable to ask whether other forms of routine movement could follow, including trains, buses, rental cars, or hotels… perhaps they already do.
My Thoughts
I find this development troubling, not because immigration law should not be enforced, but because of how quietly the boundaries keep moving. Domestic air travel is woven into daily life in the United States. Turning it into a passive surveillance tool, without clear limits or public discussion, alters the relationship between traveler and government. It’s bad enough that we have to show ID at all, but this crosses into a whole new frontier…the sort of thing that used to outrage self-proclaimed limited-government conservatives.
There is also a chilling effect to consider. Even people who are lawfully present may hesitate to travel if they worry that every movement is being logged and analyzed for purposes unrelated to safety.
This approach treats movement itself as something suspicious. That is a profound shift, and it deserves scrutiny, especially as it was rolled out secretly.
CONCLUSION
The TSA sharing passenger travel data with immigration authorities marks an expansion in how domestic travel information is used by the federal government. Officials say the practice is lawful and targeted, but it represents a clear change that affects millions of travelers who may not realize how their information is being used.
At a minimum, this is a policy that deserves transparency and public debate. Air travel is a normal part of life. Using it as an enforcement tool for immigration, even indirectly, should not happen in the shadows.
image: DHS
And people wonder why I opt out of the TSA facial recognition system every single time.
Couldn’t care less about the photo taken (you’re already on camera 100s of times at the airport via CCTV prior to even getting to the TSA line) – I have concerns about the devices’ ability to store (and thus share) specific data points regarding my picture.
I’m not sure if the statement that it’s not used for any airport operations, only tracking for later use, is correct. NYT’s is citing examples of some arrested by ICE at airports using this data.
Perfect example why the immigration arrests ( and daily quotas ) are not working. Where are all the gang members? The drug dealers ? Not hanging out at the airport. So spend all that money to pick up an employed old person that has been here for 40 years. Low hanging fruit is their best option.
I worry about this data tracking. The expansion targeting those trump will declare enemies and traitors in the future could become his new manufactured crisis.
You nail it. This is exactly my concern.
Nazis gonna Nazi
“…ensuring every American knows their government enforces its laws without apology”
Unless you make a large enough donation to the president and get a pardon.
Indeed, the stinging irony.
So the whole ‘party of small government’ thing was always a lie, and this (and everything else they’ve been doing) confirms it. Violations of privacy. Where my libertarians at? Or was that a lie, too, so long as they target ‘brown’ folks, and not you. Hmm. Curious.
I don’t find it troubling at all. Millions have flown in and overstayed their visas. Just another level of people breaking laws to anchor or plant themselves in here and do what they want, stay as long as they want, stay under the radar, work jobs or bleed the system without declaring their income, etc. “Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar….” Matthew 22:21.
When we travel internationally we are obligated to obey the laws of the land. Why should lawbreakers who overstay visas be passively overlooked, winked at, while we, the American taxpayers, absorb all of this residual outcome of breaking laws ?