Trump to deploy ICE agents to airports Monday
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Travelers wait in a long security line at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during a partial government shutdown in Atlanta, Ga., on March 20. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump said Sunday he will send ICE agents to U.S. airports starting Monday to assist TSA officers who have been working without pay for more than five weeks during a partial Homeland Security shutdown.
Why it matters: The move thrusts the very agency that sparked the shutdown with its conduct in Minnesota into the nation's airports to deal with the consequences.
- The administration has not said which airports, how many agents, or exactly what roles they would fill. The White House declined to answer questions, and the TSA and DHS did not immediately return Axios' requests for comment.
Driving the news: White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN's "State of the Union" that he's "currently working on the plan now." He said ICE agents would not operate X-ray machines but could guard exit lanes and check IDs to free up TSA officers.
- Asked how a plan created in 24 hours could be well thought out, Homan replied: "How much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit to make sure no one comes through that exit?"
- It takes four to six months to train and certify TSA officers, according to DHS, a process ICE agents have not undergone. There is no law mandating specific training requirements for checkpoint screeners, and the acting TSA administrator could designate ICE agents to fill those roles, former TSA administrator John Pistole tells Axios.
- "But that doesn't mean it's a good idea," Pistole says. "If I'm getting on a flight tomorrow, I want to know that the people doing the screening are qualified, that it's not their first day on the job."
Zoom in: Homan did not rule out immigration enforcement at airports. "We do immigration enforcement at airports all the time. So it's not going to change," he told CNN.
- Trump said in an earlier Truth Social post Saturday that ICE agents would arrest undocumented immigrants at airports, with "heavy emphasis on those from Somalia."
The big picture: Airport backlogs are the most visible consequence of a political standoff rooted in the January killings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis: Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
- Democrats have refused to fund DHS without new guardrails on ICE. Republicans have so far rejected those demands.
- The Department of Homeland Security said last Tuesday that so far, 366 transportation security officers had quit.
Between the lines: A TSA union steward in Atlanta told CNN the plan won't solve the underlying problem. "The president can have them come there but I don't see how that helps us in getting through this time period," George Borek said, adding that untrained personnel at checkpoints "could be a problem."
- Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was blunter, posting on X: "Oh yeah, I'm sure the next thing the American people want after long lines at TSA is to get wrongfully detained, beat up, and harassed by ICE."
The risk: Pistole tells Axios the worst-case scenario is an untrained screener misses something, and a terrorist exploits the gap to get on a plane.
- Pistole also warned of confrontations at checkpoints between ICE agents and travelers hostile to the agency. Pairing TSA with the polarizing immigration enforcement agency could also further demoralize screeners already working without pay, he said.
The bottom line: "Congress needs to act like the responsible adults that they're paid to be," Pistole tells Axios.
