"Never Seen This": US Begins Arrest of Nigerians, Other Foreigners With Expired Visas at 15 Airports
- US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained travellers at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals across at least 15 airports
- Those arrested include spouses of US citizens, skilled workers awaiting visa extensions and foreign nationals with pending immigration applications
- An immigration attorney with 38 years of practice said the airport enforcement strategy is unlike anything he has seen in his career
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Washington, USA - The United States has begun detaining Nigerians and other foreign nationals with expired visas at airports across the country, in what immigration lawyers are calling an unprecedented escalation of the Trump administration's enforcement campaign.
Officers from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have arrested travellers at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals in at least 15 airports over recent weeks, according to a report by The New York Times published on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.
Source: Getty Images
Among those detained are spouses of American citizens, skilled foreign workers waiting on visa extension decisions, former exchange programme participants and migrants who have active immigration applications on file.
How the airport programme expanded
The arrests mark a significant shift in an existing partnership between ICE and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Previously, the collaboration focused largely on individuals who already had outstanding deportation orders. Internal documents from the US Department of Homeland Security, reviewed by The New York Times, show the programme now also covers people whose visas have lapsed, even where those individuals have submitted applications to extend their stay legally.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals remain in the country beyond their visa expiry dates, many while awaiting responses to applications for extensions, green cards or other immigration benefits, and often holding valid work permits in the interim. Historically, such individuals were not considered enforcement priorities unless they had a criminal record.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the approach, saying the administration was committed to enforcing immigration laws. "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. The department did not, however, confirm that the airport programme had been formally expanded.
The White House has reportedly increased pressure on ICE to drive up arrest numbers nationally, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said to have set a daily target of around 2,000 immigration arrests.
Cases that have emerged
Immigration lawyers told The New York Times the strategy has already affected clients from more than a dozen countries. Among the reported cases is Chantal Morales Rojas, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian former au pair who was detained while boarding a domestic flight after her visa expired, despite holding both a pending immigration application and active work authorisation. A Ugandan woman with sickle cell anaemia was also reportedly detained, even though she had a live asylum application before the authorities.
Immigration attorney Charles Kuck described the development as something outside his entire professional experience.
"In 38 years practising immigration law, I had never seen this," he said. "And I know it's happening to lots of people."
Source: Twitter
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Source: Legit.ng
