U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting operations at Indianapolis International Airport several times a week, airport officials confirmed. Photo from Circle Design Group.

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting operations at Indianapolis International Airport several times a week, airport officials confirmed.

According to the Indianapolis Airport Authority, ICE uses a facility located within the airport’s International Arrivals Building, which is separate from areas accessible to commercial passengers. The building sits across the airfield and away from the main terminal complex.

The airport authority said Indianapolis International is federally regulated as a public-use airport, meaning it must comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules and cannot restrict or interfere with federal aviation activities. Those regulations apply to all commercial service airports in the country.

Federal agencies are not required to inform local airport officials about specific operations, flight schedules or purposes, and the scope of ICE’s activity at the airport remains unclear.

In a statement Tuesday, Oct. 28, ICE said it conducts “decompression flights” from Indiana to transfer detainees from facilities nearing capacity to others with available space. The agency said the transfers are part of efforts to maintain safety, balance detention populations and comply with federal detention standards.

ICE identified a facility in Alexandria, LA., as one destination for these flights, describing it as a hub for staging removal operations for individuals whose immigration cases have been completed.

The airport authority emphasized that the operations are managed solely by the federal government and are not subject to local oversight.