In response to growing disruptions at airports nationwide, President Donald Trump has announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be deployed to airport security checkpoints starting March 23.
The move comes as the partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enters its fifth week. This left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers working without pay, triggering massive staffing shortages.
Donald Trump says ICE Agents will be placed in airport
President Donald Trump confirmed the deployment in a post on Truth Social, stating, “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job.” The announcement follows days of travelers enduring hours-long security lines at major airports across the country.
The plan involves reassigning ICE agents to work alongside TSA personnel. However, officials say the agents will not directly handle passenger screening. Border czar Tom Homan told CNN that his team is finalizing operational details. These include the number of agents to be deployed before the rollout.
The ongoing DHS shutdown has left approximately 50,000 TSA agents working without pay since mid-February. This situation began after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement. The White House has reported that more than 400 TSA agents have resigned since the shutdown began. Absenteeism has also spiked among the remaining staff.
The union representing TSA workers criticized the administration’s plan. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in a statement, “Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission. They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed those concerns on CNN, calling the deployment “the last thing that the American people need” and noting that ICE agents lack training for airport security environments.
A bill to fund DHS and provide back pay for TSA agents failed to advance in the Senate on Friday. All in all, leaving the shutdown unresolved as today’s deployment begins (via BBC).
