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A video is going viral of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) detaining a Southwest Airlines passenger at Denver International Airport (DEN) as she attempted to board her flight on July 20. This video comes as the latest incident this month in which ICE was filmed performing an arrest at an airport.

Earlier in July, an Instagram post went viral of travelers intervening in an arrest at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in which two plain-clothed ICE officers had restrained a man on the ground. The Vietnamese man, 57-year-old Phu Nguyen, was arrested the next day at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In this latest incident, however, ICE was able to arrest the passenger despite travelers’ protest.

Video Goes Viral Of ICE Arresting Southwest Passenger At Denver International Airport

Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas, who is from Ecuador, was detained on the jetway by plain-clothed ICE officers and led out onto the tarmac. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the arrest to TheTravel.

DHS stated that Rojas entered the U.S. in 2024 and overstayed her visa.

“On July 20, 2026, ICE arrested Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas, an illegal alien from Ecuador. She entered the country on October 20, 2024, on a visa that would allow her to stay in the country until January 4, 2025. In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her visa,” DHS said in a statement to TheTravel.

The department added that Rojas “remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”

The video was shared across social media, including on the subreddit dedicated to Underreported News.

The post states, “Woman is abducted by ICE at the Denver airport when trying to return home to Oakland. She’s detained by ICE at the Denver airport (Southwest Airlines), taken from the jetway and hustled into an unmarked van on the tarmac.”

“I’ll never book another flight with Southwest,” one person commented.

A fellow passenger recorded the video and can be heard shouting, “Help us! ICE is here!”

She told Rojas not to speak to the agents and that her lawyer was outside.

When Rojas is taken to the tarmac, other travelers can be seen looking out the window, some appearing to record the detention and knocking on the window.

The person recording confronts one of the agents, who tells Rojas, “We’re going to be very nice to you.”

He subsequently threatens to charge the person recording with interfering with the arrest, and a Southwest Airlines employee later warns her that she won’t be able to board the flight if she continues to behave as she did.

More Information On The ICE Arrest At Denver International Airport

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that it will abide by the law when asked to share customers’ information.

“Southwest complies with applicable state and federal law when asked to share information about Customers. The airline has provided guidance to Employees to help ensure appropriate legal documentation is presented by law enforcement agencies prior to interactions in the gate areas. Southwest is committed to providing a safe travel experience for all Customers and Employees,” the airline said in a statement to TheTravel.

The carrier went on to state that the person who recorded the video had reached their destination.

A GoFundMe has been created to cover Rojas’ legal costs; as of July 22, it has raised nearly $100,000 toward its $120,000 goal.

The fundraiser states that Rojas is an Oakland resident “who spent two years as the au pair for an ultimate frisbee family, becoming an integral part of their lives and the local community.”

It went on to explain how Rojas entered the U.S. legally.

“Chantal entered the United States lawfully in 2023 with a J-1 visa as an au pair, complied with the terms of her visa, and has a recent pending application with the immigration authorities that would provide her with status. She is now living and working in Oakland on a work permit,” the fundraiser states.

The Denver Post asked ICE whether she had a work permit and a pending asylum case, and an unnamed representative said that work permits or pending legal cases do not confer “any type of legal status in the United States or prevent ICE from arresting or deporting an illegal alien from the country. … Each illegal alien receives due process.”

The fundraiser added that Rojas’ flight from Denver was to return her to her California home. It also claims that they have found the facility in which she is being held. Rojas has reportedly been taken to a facility in Berkeley, CBS News reports.

ICE Agents At U.S. Airports

This incident in Denver comes after a New York Times report in late 2025 that found TSA is working alongside ICE. According to the newspaper, the agencies are sharing names and birth dates of travelers believed to have been ordered removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge.

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a non-profit organization that defends the rights of “low-income immigrants and their loved ones,” issued a community alert in Dec. 2025 over ICE arrests in airports.

The non-profit highlighted six factors and circumstances that would place a person at a higher risk of arrest at a U.S. airport:

NILC gave several tips, which included having proof of lawful status and memorizing phone numbers for a lawyer or a “loved one who can be on-call.”

It remains unclear how long Rojas will be kept in ICE detention.