US Begins Detaining Ghanaians and Foreigners With Expired Visas at 15 Airports

• ICE officers have arrested travellers at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals across at least 15 US airports
• Among those detained are spouses of American citizens, skilled workers and foreigners with active immigration applications on file
• Immigration attorney Charles Kuck, with 38 years of experience, said he had never seen enforcement of this kind before

The United States has started detaining foreign nationals with expired visas directly at airports, in what immigration lawyers are describing as an unprecedented shift in enforcement.

Officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have carried out arrests at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival terminals across at least 15 airports in recent weeks, according to internal Department of Homeland Security documents reviewed by The New York Times and published on Wednesday, 29 July 2026.

Ghanaian nationals from more than a dozen other countries are among those affected.

How the airport enforcement programme changed

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The arrests represent a significant expansion of an existing arrangement between ICE and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Previously, the partnership focused on individuals who had active deportation orders against them. Internal DHS documents now show the programme has been extended to cover people whose visas have lapsed, including those who have already filed applications to extend their status legally.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals remain in the United States beyond their visa expiry dates while awaiting decisions on extensions, green card applications or other immigration benefits, often holding valid work authorisations in the interim.

Under prior administrations, such individuals were not treated as enforcement priorities unless they had a criminal record.

A DHS spokesperson defended the approach, stating:

"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 department stopped short of formally confirming the programme had been expanded.

Reports indicate the White House has increased pressure on ICE to raise arrest numbers nationwide, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said to have set a daily arrest target of approximately 2,000 individuals.

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Cases emerging across multiple countries

Among those detained is Chantal Morales Rojas, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian former au pair arrested 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 at the time of her arrest.

Immigration attorney Charles Kuck told The New York Times the scale and nature of the enforcement was unlike anything he had encountered throughout his career.

"In 38 years practising immigration law, I had never seen this," he said. "And I know it's happening to lots of people."

The detained individuals include spouses of American citizens, skilled foreign workers awaiting responses to visa extension requests, former exchange programme participants and migrants with active immigration cases before the courts.

Source: YEN.com.gh