The deployment of immigration agents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and around the country has turned airports into no-fly zones for immigrant communities — for those without legal status and with temporary legal status.

Immigration attorneys and advocates say flying, picking up or dropping off passengers put at risk anyone lacking status because of the Trump administration’s hard-line policy of mass deportation.

“Community members, both citizens and immigrants alike, are avoiding going to the airport because of (the ICE) presence,” said Jerry Gonzalez, CEO of the Galeo Impact Fund, an organization that works to expand Latino political power in Georgia.

Although the Trump administration said it directed ICE agents to supplement airport staffing, the president told reporters earlier this week those officers will continue to enforce immigration laws.

“They really are a high-level group of people and they love it because they’re able to now arrest illegals as they come into the country,” Trump said. “That’s very fertile territory.

“But that’s not why they’re there. They’re really there to help.”

U.S. Border Patrol agents and an Atlanta police officer keep an eye on atrium activity from the second floor at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday. The federal government has deployed ICE agents to airports to assist with nonspecialized tasks to support TSA staff. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

The deployment has seemingly not improved the traveling experience for passengers. Crushingly long security lines have continued to make headlines and create chaos for travelers.

ICE agents lack the training to relieve Transportation Security Administration personnel — who have remained unpaid since the partial government shutdown — of specialized tasks such as screening passengers and operating X-ray machines.

At Hartsfield-Jackson, ICE agents have been observed standing or walking around public areas, although some have received training to help with identification and boarding pass verification, according to federal authorities.

Gigi Pedraza, executive director of the Atlanta-based Latino Community Fund, said two of her acquaintances decided to travel by bus and connect through smaller airports over fear of encountering ICE at Hartsfield-Jackson. Both are residing in the U.S. legally through the asylum program, but were wary of ICE’s broad discretion to detain noncitizens.

“It certainly adds a layer of tension knowing there are armed ICE agents at airports,” Pedraza said. “For self-preservation, I can see people making decisions that will include avoiding the airport.

“Having (ICE agents) at airports with the broad authority they have already been given, including racially profiling people, actually creates security vulnerabilities rather than solve them.”

She added that ICE presence at airports “escalates concerns and uncertainty experienced not just by immigrants but also those who love and live with immigrants.”

The union representing TSA workers has echoed that perspective.

ICE agents were seen Wednesday morning appearing to take over some of the boarding pass and ID check functions traditionally done by TSA officers. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

“More than 50,000 TSA employees have worked without pay for over five weeks. Hundreds have quit. And Washington’s answer isn’t to pay them. It’s to send ICE agents to do their jobs,” Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement.

“ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security,” he added. “TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification. You cannot improvise that. Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one.”

Although not explicitly prohibited by law, flying has long posed risks for immigrants who lack legal status, including the possibility of additional screenings or questions from federal officers at the airport.

But the likelihood of undocumented travelers landing in deportation proceedings has significantly increased under Trump.

Last year, the Transportation Security Administration began sharing passenger information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including the names and birth dates of travelers believed to have been ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge.

The data sharing allows ICE to dispatch agents to airports to arrest, detain and deport the people flagged.

Among the most high-profile incidents produced by TSA’s collaboration with ICE was the Nov. 20 arrest of a college student in Boston, who had attempted to catch a flight to Texas to see family. She was deported to Honduras two days later.

“Other presidents didn’t do this,” said Charles Kuck, an Atlanta-area immigration attorney. “Undocumented immigrants should be nowhere near an airport.”

In addition to people who lack legal status, the National Immigration Law Center is warning recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to avoid traveling through airports.