On July 11, early in the morning, Iliana Noeli Lick arrived at Philadelphia International Airport with the excitement of an adventure ahead: she planned to travel to Kansas with some friends to cheer on the Argentina national team, her country of origin, in the World Cup quarterfinal match against Switzerland. But Lick, 30 years old and a resident of South Philadelphia since September 2024, did not board the plane. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained her when she presented her travel documents, a situation increasingly common at U.S. airports, which have become a new arena for the anti-immigrant offensive of the Donald Trump administration.
Lick, originally from the city of Buenos Aires, legally entered the United States with a tourist visa that was later extended. Additionally, she had completed the procedures to change her immigration status and obtain a work permit. According to her lawyer, she was awaiting an asylum interview with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when she was arrested.
She works as a nanny in the homes of two families in South Philadelphia and cares for three children between one and four years old: Aiden, Avery, and Noah. “They adore her. For these children, Iliana is not just a caregiver, she is part of their family. Iliana is a beloved member of our community and has developed strong bonds with everyone who knows her,” describe her American boyfriend, family, and friends on a platform where they are raising funds to cover the costs of her legal representation, a possible bail — which has not yet been determined — and other expenses associated with this situation. They also assure that Iliana has no criminal record and that she is a “peaceful, loving, and very committed person to her community.”
The first days of detention were especially difficult for her family, as they had no communication with her. According to her boyfriend, Steven Mechiorre, Lick was transferred to several detention centers in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Texas. She is currently detained in New Mexico, awaiting a hearing before the immigration court that has already been postponed several times. “Although she is reasonably scared and overwhelmed by the situation, she remains strong, hopeful, and very grateful for all the love and support she has received,” he points out.
Her immigration lawyer, Ana Ferreira, told the local NBC station in Philadelphia that the arrest was shocking because, despite having worked on immigration issues for 11 years, she had never seen people detained who had not been “even one day illegally.” She also stated that people in similar circumstances to Lick’s had been able to travel within the country without problems, although she recently began to see more arrests of this type.
Immigration authorities are intercepting passengers who allegedly have exceeded the time allowed by their visas to stay in the country when passing through airport security controls, or at check-in counters and boarding gates, even on domestic flights. The strategy is part of a collaboration between ICE and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has access to passenger data and itineraries managed by airlines.
Both agencies are part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and have historically collaborated on security matters, but since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, the cooperation has extended to the mass deportation effort ordered by Trump.
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Since last May, the agencies formalized the transfer of TSA passenger data to ICE for immigration control purposes, according to a document obtained by the oversight group American Oversight. The agreement is based on a 2007 program called Secure Flight, which was designed to detect possible terrorist threats.
Immigration lawyers say that among those detained are people with pending asylum requests, residency, or other immigration procedures, and who had no criminal records. Some critics argue that the collaboration turns passenger data into a mass surveillance machine.
A Reuters data analysis in February showed that at least 800 people had been detained by ICE based on more than 31,000 reports provided by the TSA, although it was unclear how many had been detained at airports.
A DHS spokesperson responded to a request for comment from EL PAÍS that “sharing information between ICE and TSA is essential to identify who is trying to travel within our country, including violent criminals, and to keep our skies and country safe.”
“DHS reversed the disastrous Biden-era policy that allowed foreigners who are illegally in our country to fly by plane throughout the national territory. Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This Administration works diligently to ensure that foreigners who are illegally in our country can no longer fly, except to leave the country and self-deport,” warned the official spokesperson. Lick had started the procedures to stay.
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