ICE officers have reportedly teamed up with the Transportation Security Administration to crack down on immigrants at U.S. airports. In recent weeks, law enforcement agents have ramped up arrests at some U.S. airports, including the recent arrest of a flight attendant at Nashville International Airport.
On July 17, 2026, Claudia Carolina Rodriguez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan-born south Florida woman was detained by ICE officers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport while preparing to board a domestic flight.
Rodriguez is currently being held in federal immigration custody in Pompano Beach, CBS Miami reports, citing Rodriguez's family.
Rodriguez, per her relatives, had Temporary Protected Status (TPS). It is expired, however. The family says at the time of her arrest, Rodriguez had a pending political asylum application. ICE officers detained Rodriguez on July 17 as she was walking toward her departure gate.
Rodriguez's cousin, Ruth Lares-Caglione, told CBS Miami that Rodriguez was going to North Carolina to watch some games with some friends when she was detained. Law enforcement agents approached and arrested her after she cleared security, says the family.
Immigration attorneys and advocates are reporting a rise in domestic travel arrests by ICE officers. This trend especially impacts individuals with expired visas or pending immigration cases.
"This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly," said a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson in a statement to CNN this week, adding, "Unless it is out of our country to self-deport."
Rodriguez, according to her family, initially spent eight days at the Miramar processing facility. She was later transferred to the Broward Transitional Center, the family says, noting that the Miramar facility is a processing center, not a long-term detention facility.
Following her arrest, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, south Florida congresswoman, visited the ICE Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach unannounced and requested to speak with Rodriguez. Albeit Schultz wasn't permitted to meet with Rodriguez in person, she was able to speak with her by phone for nearly 15 minutes, per CBS Miami. The congresswoman told the outlet that Rodriguez described difficult conditions during her stay at the processing center.
"She had no shower for that entire time," the congresswoman said, adding that Rodriguez had the same clothes on that were never cleaned for that entire time. Additionally, Schultz said all the detainees there never go outside.
Rodriguez has built her life in south Florida. Therefore, for her family, the case is especially difficult. She recently earned a master's degree from St. Thomas University and is described as someone who enjoys spending time with family, not someone who should be treated like a criminal, says her relatives. Her cousin, Gabriel Dominguez, told reporters that his biggest fear is that Rodriguez could be deported to Venezuela. Per Dominguez, Rodriguez hasn't been to Venezuela since she was a child.
Dominguez said: "My biggest fear is that she gets deported to a country where she hasn't been since she was a kid."
Rodriguez's family cannot understand why a domestic flight led to her detention. According to Local 10 News, Rodriguez moved to the United States in 2017. Shortly after arriving, she applied for asylum and received Temporary Protected Status in 2023. Her asylum case remains pending.
