ICE agents deployed at Pittsburgh airport
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Pittsburgh International Airport's security lines. Photo: Ryan Deto/Axios
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were deployed to Pittsburgh International Airport on Monday — a day after President Trump said he was sending ICE to U.S. airports to assist the Transportation Security Administration.
Why it matters: TSA officers have been working without pay for more than five weeks during the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
The latest: Kimberly Kraynak-Lambert, a spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees union representing TSA agents at PIT, said her members confirmed ICE agents were on-site Monday.
By the numbers: ICE agents have been deployed to more than a dozen airports, CNN reports.
- DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said more than 3,400 TSA agents across U.S. airports called out Sunday, an 11.8% absence rate and the highest of the shutdown.
- Bis said PIT had a callout rate of 24.7% on Sunday.
- "President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted," Bis said in a statement. "This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions."
Context: PIT has seen longer peak-time security lines but has so far avoided the heavy congestion facing airports like those in Houston and New Orleans as TSA workers call out sick, the Business Times reports.
- Lines at security checkpoints were generally under 10 minutes throughout Monday.
- PIT and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank have opened a food pantry to support unpaid TSA workers.
State of play: It's still unclear exactly how ICE will assist TSA in Pittsburgh.
- White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN's "State of the Union" that ICE agents would not operate X-ray machines but could guard exit lanes or handle crowd control to free up TSA officers.
- It takes four to six months to train and certify TSA officers, per DHS, a process ICE agents have not undergone.
- Trump said on Truth Social that agents deployed to airports shouldn't wear masks — a departure from the tactic ICE uses while conducting immigration raids.
Friction point: Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato in a statement said ICE isn't needed at PIT, "where TSA lines have remained short and manageable."
- "Sending ICE into our public spaces and communities is never about safety and security threats and has led to racial profiling and harassment of our neighbors," she said. "Local ICE agents should skip the Pittsburgh International Airport, which is not requesting help."
The other side: Jaime Martinez, founder of immigrant rights group Frontline Dignity, said, "Our airport is meant to show the world the best of who we are — welcoming, forward-looking, and rooted in community. Deploying ICE for political gamesmanship, while the government refuses to pay TSA workers, undermines that vision by injecting fear and confusion where there should be connection."
What they're saying: "Safety and security are always the top priority at airports around the country," PIT spokesperson Bob Kerlik said in a statement. "How federal agencies operate is not something that any airport, including the Allegheny County Airport Authority, controls."