House Democrats target ICE, TSA data-sharing in new bill
The Department of Homeland Security would need to adjust its immigration enforcement strategy at airports under legislation introduced this week by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The bill targets an information-sharing agreement between the Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If passed, the rules would bar TSA from sharing personally identifiable information of flight passengers with ICE or Customs and Border Protection. DHS would also be prohibited from buying traveler data from brokers or other private-sector entities.
The “No TSA Data for ICE Act” takes aim at certain traveler programs and DHS-built applications, too. The legislation would prohibit the agency’s secretary from using Mobile Fortify, a controversial AI-powered facial recognition tool, or similar apps to carry out immigration enforcement at airports. Grabbing data from TSA’s PreCheck Program and Global Entry would also be off the table.
“Through an information-sharing agreement signed in 2025, TSA is readily offering up our immigrant residents to suffer at the hands of ICE agents so they can fulfill their daily arrest quota,” Tlaib said in a press release introducing the bill. “This data sharing should terrify all of us. It does nothing to make us safer, but rather endangers the basic rights of all Americans and worsens our mass surveillance crisis.”
The bill has more than two dozen House Democrats backing it and has been endorsed by 66 organizations, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, Public Citizen and the National Immigration Law Center.
“As immigration enforcement exploits databases, expands surveillance, and targets travelers across the country, Congress has a mandate to protect the safety and rights of the American people from the administration’s growing overreach and put an end to the cycle of tragedy that follows when communities are forced to live under fear,” Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, deputy director of advocacy and campaigns at United We Dream, said in a statement endorsing the legislation.
Criticism has mounted in recent months concerning the close relationship between ICE and TSA. In January, a top TSA official confirmed the DHS unit was aiding in ICE’s deportation efforts. The acting administrator said TSA helped ICE check against information, rather than sending the PII of all passengers to ICE. The clarification, however, did little to quell concerns.
The partnership has taken a public-facing role. ICE stepped in to support TSA workers during the funding lapse in March. ICE agents operated identity verification systems, monitored lines and directed traffic. The crossagency collaboration was welcomed by DHS and component leadership but dismayed some TSA union representatives, lawmakers and the public.
While ICE did not explicitly point to its relationship with TSA, the agency did credit its massive jump in arrests last year to strengthened partnerships and data-sharing.
“TSA is complicit in ICE expanding its chaos and cruelty to target our communities in our airports and has been openly lying about it,” Tlaib said in a statement earlier this week. “When people fly, they should be able to trust that TSA won’t divulge their sensitive information or use it for political retaliation.”
