Here's what ICE can (and can't) do in airports
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ICE and federal officers stand near a TSA checkpoint as travelers line up at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ICE officers arrived at more than a dozen airports this week to help TSA deal with the spring travel chaos — but the specifics of their role remains unclear.
Why it matters: Though both under DHS, ICE handles immigration enforcement and criminal investigations and TSA oversees aviation security. This raises questions about whether ICE can ease a TSA staffing shortfall during the partial government shutdown.
- "From an operational perspective, there isn't much they can do," John Sandweg, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, tells Axios.
The latest: When asked for comment on what ICE agents are allowed to do at airports during the shutdown and whether they had been given any specific instructions, acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said: "ICE officers are guarding entrances and exits, assisting with logistics, and doing crowd control."
- Bis added in her Tuesday evening email: "The more support we have available, the more efficiently TSA can focus on their highly specialized screening roles to efficiently get airport security lines moving faster."
What ICE agents already do at airports
ICE agents already work at some airports, investigating smuggling and arresting people accused of immigration or federal crimes.
- "ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already, and they do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports," Trump's border czar Tom Homan told CNN.
- This includes the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm, which probes drug smuggling and human trafficking, and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) division, which arrests noncitizens who violate U.S. immigration law.
How ICE agents can help TSA now
ICE agents can primarily assist TSA by filling gaps in three areas:
- Crowd control: Homan said ICE agents would mainly help release TSA officers from "non-significant roles" like managing crowd control so that TSA officers could continue screening passengers.
- Staffing exit lanes: ICE agents are "highly trained," Homan told CNN, and can staff exit lanes to keep those areas secure.
- Immigration enforcement: ICE could conduct immigration enforcement at airports as that's one of their core duties, said Sandweg, in a Tuesday phone interview.
The intrigue: ICE agents could probably help TSA with ID checks, Sandweg says, but much of that process is automated now through machines and wouldn't free up enough officers to make a difference.
What ICE isn't trained to do at airports
ICE members are not typically trained to conduct core TSA tasks, including:
- Aviation safety.
- Baggage screening.
- Pat-downs.
- Operate X-rays.
How it works: It takes 4-6 months to train TSA agents and every screening duty has different certifications that require annual recertifications, according to a TSA union call.
- TSA screeners go through weeks and months of specific "on the job" training around security screenings that ICE officers don't have, Sandweg tells Axios.
- Much of that training, experts say, is to detect explosives and weapons, and identify threats that are designed to avoid detection at airport screenings — a task ICE isn't trained to do.
- "It's just not something you can plug the agents into doing quickly," Sandweg says.
Reality check: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told ABC's This Week on Sunday that ICE agents run security machines at the southern border, which he said makes them qualified to run airport security lines.
- "Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets," he said.
- Homan did not totally dismiss the possibility of ICE officers screening bags, telling CNN "it's a work in progress."
What ICE involvement could mean
What we're watching: A potential escalation.
- ICE's role in Trump's nationwide immigration crackdown agenda has prompted civil liberties advocates and some Democratic lawmakers to warn that ICE's presence at airports could heighten tensions.
- Sandweg says more ICE involvement at airports — like asking for travelers for IDs or managing large crowds — could increase tension given the political narratives around ICE.
- Any widespread protests could divert officers to crowd control duties instead of helping TSA directly.
- Representatives for ICE and TSA did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday afternoon request for comment.
The bottom line: DHS will determine how broadly ICE officers are deployed and what their roles become as travel demand rises and staffing gaps persist.
Go deeper: ICE vs. Border Patrol, explained
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
