President Trump announced on Truth Social that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be sent to U.S. airports to help Transportation Security Administration workers facing longer security lines during the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown. He wrote, “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job.”
The shutdown, now in its sixth week, has halted pay for many TSA employees. Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told NPR that more than 400 TSA officers have quit and thousands have called out because they cannot afford basic expenses, contributing to hours-long delays for travelers. DHS said it plans to deploy “hundreds” of ICE officers to affected airports but did not name specific locations.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said federal agents would be at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to assist with line management and crowd control and that officials told him the deployment is not intended for immigration enforcement.
The proposal drew sharp criticism from TSA’s union and civil liberties groups. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, argued ICE agents are neither trained nor certified for aviation security and warned against replacing paid, trained TSA staff with armed immigration officers. The ACLU said the presence of immigration agents in airports could “inspire fear among families.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also objected, saying untrained ICE personnel should not be deployed to airports.
Tom Homan, the White House border czar overseeing the effort, described the plan as a work in progress. He told CNN he expects ICE officers to assume guard duties at some terminal entries and exits so TSA can concentrate on specialized checkpoint tasks, but he said ICE would not operate X-ray machines because they are not trained for that work.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered a different view on ABC, asserting ICE personnel “know how to run the X-ray machines,” noting both agencies fall under DHS. Duffy warned that wait times could worsen if Congress does not restore DHS funding by the end of next week, when another round of TSA paychecks is scheduled to be missed.
Congress recently failed for a fifth time to advance a DHS funding bill, leaving TSA, FEMA and other agencies short-staffed. ICE retains funding after Congress allocated billions to the agency last summer as part of a broader spending measure.
The standoff at DHS followed the deaths of two U.S. citizens during federal immigration operations in Minnesota, which prompted Democrats to push for policy changes including a judicial-warrant requirement and a ban on ICE agents wearing masks. It was not immediately clear whether any ICE officers deployed to airports would be masked.
Homan said he has met with lawmakers to discuss DHS funding but gave no indication a deal is imminent. He also said ICE officers will continue to enforce immigration laws while deployed at terminals and security lines.
NPR’s Jennifer Ludden contributed to this report.