ICE Agent Saves Choking Infant at JFK Airport Using Heimlich Maneuver: DHS

‘The ICE agent sprang into action and saved this one-year-old child’s life,’ DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.

Travelers at a check-in area at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on May 7, 2025. Jeenah Moon/Reuters

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent stationed at John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 25 saved a 1-year-old boy who was choking, using the Heimlich maneuver, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

While waiting in a busy Transportation Security Administration (TSA) precheck line, the child became unresponsive in his father’s arms, with CCTV footage capturing the child’s arms going limp as panic spread among passengers, DHS said in a March 26 statement.