Under a Trump administration program, the TSA is providing names of all upcoming air travelers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be checked against the agency's database of individuals subject to deportation.
The program, revealed on Friday by the New York Times, began in February, the Department of Homeland Security said in an email.
The Times reported that the program began in March.
Homeland Security, which houses both the TSA and ICE, said in the email that it was working diligently to make sure undocumented immigrants, "can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport."
The program represents an expansion of TSA's use of traveler information. Traditionally, the TSA has used passenger information provided by airlines to check for people who are on the federal do not fly list or terrorist watchlists, but it has not been involved in domestic law enforcement or immigration enforcement.
The Times reported that under the program the TSA provides a list of upcoming flyers to ICE multiple times per week.
It's unclear how many individuals have been arrested or deported as a result of the shared information, the Times said.