A September ICE arrest drew scrutiny to the airport operators for complying with federal law.
An American Airlines flight prepares for takeoff at Tweed-New Haven Airport. (Credit: TweedFacts, via Wikimedia Commons)
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Ethan Savage
Staff Writer, The Buckley Beacon
On September 4, three plainclothes immigration agents wearing airport security armbands approached a student at a TSA bag-scan checkpoint at Tweed-New Haven Airport, according to security camera footage obtained by the Yale Daily News.
The student, Deng Dhieu Kuach Deng, is a first-year basketball player at Southern Connecticut State University. The agents escorted him to the lobby, spoke with him for about 30 seconds, then handcuffed him and walked him to a rental car lot on Burr Street. Seven protesters followed. In the footage, one agent appears to push a woman who was filming. Agents put Deng in a black SUV parked in a priority spot. The encounter lasted about five minutes.
ICE said Deng entered legally and overstayed. His lawyers said in a habeas corpus petition filed that day that he had a pending asylum application and valid work authorization. He was released September 16. ICE did not respond to the Daily News’ questions about whether agents had a warrant.
Mayor Justin Elicker wrote to airport board chair Robert Reed on September 16, after Deng and a second detainee were arrested at Tweed. He urged the airport not to exceed what federal law requires, including by giving agents preferential parking, and to update its protest policy. Reed said at the board’s October 21 meeting that next steps were being pursued but declined to give details, CT Mirror reported. That day, the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, working with a Yale Law immigrant rights clinic, filed a records request about ICE access to the airport. Andrew King, vice president of external affairs at Avports, which operates the airport, told the Beacon the request has been fulfilled and is voluminous.
King said in an interview with the Beacon that the access is “a federal requirement, not an airport choice.” Citing 49 CFR 1542.209(m)(1), he said the rule “requires airport operators to authorize access for government employees, including law enforcement officers whose employment included a criminal records check prior to applying for the badge.” Armbands serve to identify individuals badged by airport security for designated access. Priority parking is a separate matter. King said “it’s not a federal requirement, but also I’m not sure what enforcement capability the airport would have to force them to park somewhere where they have parked.” He said that “at the request of the city, we have removed any designated law enforcement parking spaces.” Asked whether the airport is notified before enforcement actions, King said, “for security purposes, I will decline to answer that question.”
Critics, including attorneys at Yale Law’s immigrant rights clinic, argue the rule covers only officers who passed that background check. A TSA-ICE data-sharing agreement signed in May 2025 has also drawn scrutiny, the Daily News reported.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Beacon that officers “are simply enforcing our nation’s laws” and coordinate with other components in shared transportation settings. The spokesperson called the practice of letting people in the country illegally fly domestically a “horrendous Biden-era policy” and said DHS “will no longer tolerate this.”
Chris Hajec, deputy general counsel of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which advocates stricter enforcement, said state laws “cannot block federal officials from doing their jobs under federal law.”
Elicker’s letter cited Public Act 26-14, the Act Concerning Democracy and Government Accountability, which Gov. Ned Lamont signed May 4. It bars law enforcement officers, including federal agents, from making civil immigration arrests in designated “protected areas” without a judicial warrant. Those areas include schools, hospitals, houses of worship and courthouses, according to an ACLU of Connecticut fact sheet. That provision took effect October 1, after the September 4 arrest. The act also restricts masks for officers, requires visible identification and lets people sue federal officers in state court.
The Justice Department sued to block parts of the law on May 15, calling it unconstitutional. However, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong says it is lawful. Published summaries do not list airports as protected areas. King notes that the act is aimed at officers and does not authorize the airport to police law enforcement officers.
Boycott calls aimed at Tweed grew from a campaign against Avelo, an airline that flies from the airport. Avelo ended its role in DHS deportation charters in January after months of protests and boycott calls. Those flights operated out of Arizona. Activists cite the outcome as evidence that pressure works. Tweed does not operate deportation flights or set federal policy.
The airport authority’s board meets monthly and takes public comment. Its next meeting is November 18.