Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are expected to increase their presence at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) over the next several weeks, conducting document checks in public areas and on jetbridges of domestic flights. The move marks a noticeable expansion of federal immigration enforcement into what most travelers consider a routine domestic travel environment.
Neither the Metropolitan Airports Commission nor MSP Airport Police confirmed advance notice of the operation, saying only that federal regulations give federal agents broad access to airport property, including terminal spaces, airside areas, and parking facilities.
Law enforcement actions inside airports are not without precedent, especially at international checkpoints where Customs and Border Protection (CBP) routinely processes arriving travelers. But the reported scope of this initiative, which includes checks on domestic travel routes and jetbridges while boarding and de-boarding, represents an escalation of federal immigration enforcement into spaces we’ve previously not seen them, at least on any sort of regular basis.
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