ATLANTA — Local immigration attorneys are raising concerns about a rise in Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at U.S. airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been ramping up operations at Hartsfield-Jackson and other airports around the country as part of a push by the administration to crack down on people in the country illegally. There are growing concerns by some that the tactics go too far.
Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck says many of the people being targeted are waiting for their visas to be extended.
“For example, one of my clients has a pending extension of his work visa that hasn’t been approved yet, but the old visa had expired. Under our law, they’re allowed to stay here while it’s pending but they technically don’t have status,” Kuck said.
Kuck says his client is now in immigration detention while he works to secure the client’s release.
“We’ve also seen them arrest the spouses of U.S. citizens at interviews at immigration as they’re about to become residents and put them in immigration jail,” Kuck said.
Kuck believes the recent wave of arrests at airports is intended to scare people and help the agency meet its deportation goals.
“It’s just giganticly race-ful and it’s clearly designed to keep scaring people, to scare people into leaving,” Kuck said.
“It’s putting average everyday people, moms, dads, grandparents, employees, at risk of just living their life. This is not what immigration enforcement is about, except under this administration,” Kuck said.
Kuck also says travelers’ information is checked when they arrive at the airport.
“My name goes to ICE when I buy a ticket when I show up to the airport, that name is run through their AI, and if I don’t have legal status of some kind they will walk up to me at the gate and arrest me,” Kuck said.
He believes the agency is making more arrests inside airports as it works toward its deportation goals.
“For ICE this is like picking up a butterfly with a butterfly net, this is easy, no risks to them; so yeah of course they’re going to do it, they have lots of employees, lots of money, and lots of time,” Kuck said.
A spokesperson for ICE in Atlanta had no comment.
President Trump has prioritized detentions and deportations since beginning his second term. Several high-profile encounters with ICE officers have ended in tragedy, and some of those injured or killed were not the individuals being targeted by ICE officers.
Thousands of ICE agents have been hired in the last couple of years as part of the ramped-up enforcement, and critics say some have not been adequately vetted or trained for the role.
WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.
