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 the 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.

Zoom in: ICE agents were seen at Sky Harbor yesterday 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: Mayor 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.

Read more

High temperatures have lured grasshoppers to the Valley early.

The bug picture: Seemingly overnight, the jumpy critters have taken over: They're clogging up our pool filters, annoying our pets and splattering our windshields.

State of play: Our rainy fall, followed by the hottest March temperatures on record, led to an early-than-normal hatch out, Austin Burns of Burns Pest Elimination told Arizona's Family late last week.

• Typically, grasshoppers don't arrive until late spring or early summer, he said.

Reality check: Swarms of bugs can be unsettling, but grasshoppers are harmless.

The bottom line: They'll be gone in a month or so, as they have relatively short lifespans.

🏀 ASU is hiring Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett, an Arizona native, as its new men's basketball coach. (ESPN)

👀 Scottsdale fired Lamar Whitmer, Mayor Lisa Borowsky's chief of staff, over allegations of inappropriate workplace comments, unauthorized political activities and misuse of his position for personal gain. (AZcentral)

🗳️ A grand jury subpoena detailed the terabytes of data the Arizona Senate provided to the U.S. Department of Justice from its self-styled "audit" of the 2020 election in Maricopa County. (Arizona Mirror)

🎤 Salt-n-Pepa, TLC and En Vogue will perform at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre on Oct. 7. (ABC15)

Women are increasingly playing football despite fewer leagues and opportunities in the typically male-dominated sport.

The big picture: The NFL is investing in women's flag football, and the Olympics is planning the sport's debut in 2028.

Zoom in: The Arizona Cardinals recently held their NFL FLAG Spring Regional Tournament in Glendale, and leagues like the NFL-sponsored AZ Premier Flag Football, Core 5 and others, offer girls' and co-ed teams.

The latest: Arizona is one of 17 states where high school athletic associations have sanctioned girls varsity flag championships, and 22 states have pilot programs in play.

• In February, an NCAA committee recommended that Divisions I, II and III add flag football as an emerging women's sport.

Keep reading