ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday: Homan

Border Czar Tom Homan said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deploy to airports Monday to help ease security lines during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to deploy ICE agents to airports as the shutdown enters its second month and creates headaches for travelers navigating hours-long security lines.

Homan confirmed ICE would be deployed Monday during CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We’ll be at the airports tomorrow and helping TSA move those lines forward,” Homan said, adding that ICE will assist in areas such as guarding exit gates to make it easier for TSA agents to screen passengers. “We’re just there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need specialized expertise.”

The move to deploy ICE comes as the DHS shutdown, which began Feb. 14, has strained airport workers. Many TSA agents have called instead to either work without pay or resign altogether. More than 400 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the start of the shutdown, according to one report. NBC News report.

Democrats are demanding legislative changes to immigration enforcement practices in exchange for funding for DHS following the ICE shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.

New York House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the plan to station ICE agents at airports.

“The last thing the American people need is untrained ICE agents stationed at airports across the country to potentially brutalize or, in some cases, kill them,” Jeffries said in a statement to CNN.

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