ATLANTA, Ga. — In a bill called “No TSA Data for ICE Act,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, GA-05, wants to prevent the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from sharing passenger information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which gives the Department of Homeland Security the ability to check immigration status.

Two dozen lawmakers are sponsoring the bill, aimed at stopping the data sharing between the two federal agencies.

“This will be a generational, if not a multi-generational situation that we will have to deal with,” said Kimberly Diemert, spokesperson for 50501 Georgia, a nonpartisan organization fighting for government accountability, along with human and civil rights.

“We are less safe as individuals in our rights to privacy, in our freedoms of movement, in our ability to have conversations,” said Diemert. “We should be able to travel freely without having somebody monitor every one of our movements. And now it has become so overly burdensome for us everywhere we go, whoever we speak with.”

The bill would also prevent the Department of Homeland Security from denying, suspending or terminating a passenger’s Trusted Travelers Programs (TTP) status, such as TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, for participating in their First Amendment rights like filming ICE activity.

“And when you open the door to this type of behavior from our federal government, closing that door will be next to impossible,” said Diemert.

50501 Georgia said seeing the legislation through matters to them.

“Because it’s our duty as American citizens to hold our government to account and to make sure that they’re doing what we elect them to do, which is for the betterment of the entire country, to protect our constitutional rights and privileges, to safeguard the laws of this country, and not use them as a tool of manipulation to build distrust and to build animosity,” said Diemert.

In a statement, Congresswoman Williams said:

“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest and most efficient airport, is the gateway to the world. That’s only possible when every traveler has confidence in our aviation system. The TSA should play no part in Trump’s and ICE’s terror campaign. It’s exploitative, dangerous, and a violation of people’s privacy. I’m proud to co-sponsor Rep. Tlaib’s No TSA Data for ICE Act to help protect people’s privacy, restore accountability, and ensure our government agencies are focused on keeping travelers safe—not serving as tools for ICE.”

“But what the point of it is, say: Look, there’s an issue here that we should be looking at. We have an executive branch of the government that is going far beyond what Congress intended in its enforcement of immigration law,” said Charles Kuck, immigration attorney and Emory University School of Law adjunct professor.

This proposed bill comes as ICE agents allegedly wrongfully detained an American citizen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security wrote:

“ICE conducts targeted enforcement actions based on investigative leads and available identifying information. In this instance, officers briefly encountered an individual at the airport during an ongoing enforcement effort. After additional verification determined the individual was not the person sought, officers promptly released him.

The encounter occurred outside public view to minimize disruption to airport operations and protect the individual’s privacy. ICE takes seriously its responsibility to conduct enforcement activities professionally, lawfully, and with appropriate safeguards.

For operational and privacy reasons, ICE does not discuss specific investigative details or information involving individuals who are not taken into custody."

“First of all, you have to understand that ICE is unaccountable to anyone,” Kuck said. “None of these ICE agents will be disciplined. None of them will have a note in their record. It just won’t happen, because in this administration, ICE can do whatever it wants to do.”

Kuck said he has now retained seven clients whose family members have been detained at the airport while traveling on work permits or who otherwise had valid documentation.

“So now you can’t travel unless you’re a citizen, permanent resident, or somebody on a valid visa. You cannot go to the airport,” said Kuck.

Kuck said agents need probable cause to make an arrest.

“The idea that they’re saying a name and a birth date is enough to arrest somebody, that’s ridiculous,” he said. “Ridiculous, especially when they have the software on their phones from a distance. They can zoom on the guy’s face and take the picture, and it would tell them it’s not that person.”

Delta Air Lines responded to the incident in a statement, “Delta employees do not have insight into or control over law enforcement decisions, and our role is to ensure flights operate safely and customers are treated with respect. We are reviewing this event internally and are reaching out to the customer directly.”

“I will tell you, the part that’s even more troubling is Delta seems to have cooperated with the police, with ICE here, by having this person wait outside the gate under the pretext of upgrading to first class, so that no one else will be around to videotape ICE doing this,” said Kuck.

Kuck advises people to know their rights, including the right to remain silent and ask for a lawyer. He also said that if you are a citizen, you have the right to video, as long as it does not disrupt law enforcement operations.

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