Donald Trump to deploy ICE agents to airports over funding stoush
Jason Lange, Mike Scarcella And Nolan McCaskill
Updated ,first published
Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to assist Transportation Security Administration personnel at US airports.
“On Monday, ICE will be heading to airports to assist our amazing TSA Agents who remain on duty,” the Truth Social post on Sunday (Washington time) said.
Trump had threatened on Saturday to deploy ICE agents to airports if congressional Democrats did not immediately agree to fund airport security.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff will miss a second full paycheck on March 27 amid a 36th day of partial government shutdown as lawmakers clash over funding for TSA and ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security.
TSA officers called in sick as their paychecks dried up and a shortage of security guards disrupted travel at major airports. More than 400 TSA employees have left their jobs since the partial closure began Feb. 14, NBC News reported Saturday, citing DHS.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, said the ICE agent would only perform “non-essential” duties such as guarding exits.
“We’re just there to help TSA do its job in areas that don’t need specialized expertise, like scanning in an X-ray machine,” he told CNN on Sunday. “I’m not trained on this, I’m not going to do this.”
On Saturday, Trump said ICE agents at airports would “provide security like no one has ever seen before” and would “immediately arrest” undocumented immigrants, especially Somalis.
But Homan downplayed that aspect of the mission, saying ICE exists and conducts immigration enforcement at airports.
“It won’t change,” he said.
TSA has approximately 65,000 employees, including 50,000 airport security officers.
ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security, which is the domain of the TSA. ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and has faced criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, criticized Trump’s proposal as “yet another reckless, unlawful threat to abuse ICE agents.”
“ICE seems to have no idea what its limits are, and I think America would be absolutely horrified to see ICE agents wandering around airports just as they’re breaking down the doors of homes,” Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.
Homeland Security has historically shifted resources among agencies during emergency personnel shortages, said Stewart Baker, a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Baker said TSA’s continued unpaid staff creates a “serious problem” for the agency.
Using ICE agents for airport security “may be slower than using trained people, but it would be better than no people at all,” he added.
ICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, has sent agents to multiple locations as part of the crackdown over the past several months, most recently to Minnesota in an operation that resulted in agents fatally shooting American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Their deaths sparked an outcry and led the Trump administration to take a more targeted approach in Minnesota.
This month, Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following mounting criticism of the administration’s immigration tactics. The U.S. Senate is considering the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, to be the next DHS secretary.
Trump said his immigration policies are aimed at curbing illegal immigration and improving national security.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union said TSA was providing lists of airport passengers to ICE, calling the move a break from TSA’s previous practices.
