Sky Harbor part of nationwide ICE deployment for airport security
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A sign at a security checkpoint in Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor informs passengers Monday that ICE agents will be assisting TSA with security screening. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
The Trump administration deployed ICE agents to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to assist short-staffed TSA officers amid the partial federal shutdown.
Why it matters: The administration's move thrusts the agency that sparked the shutdown with its conduct in Minnesota into the nation's airports to deal with the consequences.
The big picture: TSA officers have worked without pay for five weeks during a partial federal shutdown of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which congressional Democrats refuse to fund without new restrictions on ICE.
- More than 400 TSA officers have since quit and thousands more have called out of work, acting assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told Axios.
- More than 20% of TSA agents at Sky Harbor called out on Sunday, per Bis.
The latest: Sky Harbor is one of 14 airports where ICE agents were sent, CNN reported.
- White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that ICE agents would not operate X-ray machines but could guard exit lanes and check IDs to free up TSA officers.
State of play: City of Phoenix aviation officials were notified that ICE would assist TSA with processing passengers at security checkpoints beginning Monday morning, per Sky Harbor.
- Officials noted that the airport is subject to federal regulation so federal officers have access to facilities, including security areas, terminals and the airfield.
Zoom in: ICE agents were seen at Sky Harbor on Monday morning, per local news reports.
- Axios saw a man wearing a vest with the word "police" on the back assisting with security at a Terminal 4 checkpoint in the late morning.
- Signs at terminals 3 and 4 notified passengers of the ICE presence.
- Two of the four Terminal 4 checkpoints were closed.
What they're saying: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego blamed the shutdown on the Trump administration's "irresponsible deployment of ICE" and refusal to accept accountability measures.
- "With this latest dim idea, it now wants those without proper training to secure our airports," she said in a statement on X, adding that "leaving this important job to amateurs creates a risk we should not tolerate."
The other side: "While the Democrats continue to put the safety, dependability, and ease of our air travel at risk, President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted," Bis said.
- "This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions," he said.
Between the lines: 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 a Truth Social post Saturday that ICE agents would arrest undocumented immigrants at airports, with "heavy emphasis on those from Somalia."