VIDEO: Trump Govt Begins Arresting Foreigners With Expired U.S. Visas at Airports

• The Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement at major US airports, with foreign nationals holding expired visas now being arrested.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has expanded immigration enforcement at airports, with foreign nationals holding expired visas now being arrested while travelling through major airports across the United States.

According to a report by The New York Times, immigration officers in plain clothes have detained travellers at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival halls in at least 15 airports across the country in recent weeks as part of an intensified deportation campaign.

The report said those targeted include spouses of US citizens, professionals awaiting work visa renewals and former exchange programme participants whose visas have expired.

Some of the arrests were carried out discreetly, while others were recorded by passengers and widely circulated on social media.

The expanded enforcement reportedly builds on an existing arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under which airlines share passenger information with security agencies.

While the programme previously focused on people with existing deportation orders, it has now reportedly been expanded to include individuals who overstayed their visas.

The change significantly broadens the number of people who could face detention, as hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals overstay US visas annually. Many of them are awaiting decisions on visa extensions or permanent residency applications and still possess valid work authorisations.

In response to the report, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the administration is determined to stop undocumented immigrants from travelling within the United States.

“This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport,” the spokesperson said.

Although the department did not confirm the reported expansion of airport enforcement, it also did not deny the operation.

The agency has not disclosed how many people have been detained, but the move comes as the White House reportedly pushes ICE to increase immigration arrests nationwide, with a target of about 2,000 arrests daily.

The report highlighted several recent cases, including a 27-year-old Ecuadorian woman arrested while boarding a domestic flight in Denver, a Ugandan asylum seeker detained despite having an active asylum application, and an Australian citizen arrested after overstaying his visa.

The latest development underscores the Trump administration’s tougher immigration policies, with major US airports increasingly being used to identify and detain people accused of violating immigration laws.

Watch video below:

Trump administration begins arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas at airports pic.twitter.com/GYIO8NzEPF— YabaLeftOnline (@yabaleftonline) July 29, 2026