One video posted on social media showed an elderly man yelling and crying on the ground in Terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport on Monday when a man and a masked woman, both in plain clothes, tried to control, handcuff and detain him.
When the pair realised they were being filmed, they walked away, leaving the elderly with a handcuff attached to one arm.
Late on Monday afternoon, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police identified the pair as ICE agents.
They found no outstanding warrants on him, removed his handcuffs, and notified ICE.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers did not proceed with the arrest of Phu Nguyen, a 57-year-old citizen of Australia who overstayed his visa, at the Las Vegas Airport on Monday.
ICE arrested him at his flight departing the Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, "despite attempts by agitators to help him evade ICE officers at Las Vegas airport", the Department of Homeland Security said.
"ICE is continuing to act with impunity - instilling fear in our communities and scaring tourists, which hurts our tourism economy," Democratic U.S. senator for Nevada Jacky Rosen said in a statement.
"Enough is enough. ICE must follow the same commonsense guardrails as other law enforcement agencies."
The Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus and the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Caucus are calling for a full investigation into the aborted arrest by ICE at Harry Reid International Airport, urging Governor Joe Lombardo to explain the transparency and accountability for federal law enforcement agencies operating in Nevada.
