Trump threatens to send ICE agents to US airports unless DHS deal reached | Trump administration
Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to deploy federal immigration officers to US airports on Monday if Democrats do not pass measures aimed at strengthening security and immigration enforcement.
“Unless the Radical Left Democrats immediately sign an agreement that will allow our Country, especially our Airports, to be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports.” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Airport security is currently handled by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), while ICE handles immigration enforcement. Both are under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE has been a pillar of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and has faced criticism from Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
Trump added that ICE would “do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate detention of all Illegal Immigrants coming into our Country,” and pointed out that “there will be a heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, which a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, with the blessing of the once Great State of Minnesota, has completely destroyed.”
In a subsequent post, Trump said the deployment would begin Monday “unless Democrats allow Fair and Appropriate Security at our Airports and elsewhere in our Nation.”
The remarks come amid political tensions over immigration policy and a broader debate over federal enforcement powers. Trump’s post came just hours after Democrats blocked the DHS funding bill; This is the fifth time since the agency was shut down in mid-February.
TSA workers could miss their second full paycheck next week as Washington lawmakers squabble over a partial government shutdown.
Democrats are demanding changes to immigration enforcement operations, including ICE, after recent clashes in Minneapolis resulted in the deaths of two protesters – Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Trump’s threat to put ICE agents at airport security checkpoints comes at a time when a growing number of TSA agents are calling in sick or leaving the agency, many citing financial hardship.
ICE’s deployment at airports comes almost a year after the TSA began requiring airline passengers to present their federally compliant driver’s license or passport at security, giving the federal government a clearer idea of the immigration status of air travelers.
However, it is debatable whether ICE or Customs and Border Protection has the legal authority to detain non-U.S. citizens without a warrant inside the country, including at airports.
Related code – USC1357 – Authorizes arrests without a warrant “to board any ship within the territorial waters of the United States and any railroad car, aircraft, conveyance, or conveyance within the territorial waters of the United States and to gain access to private lands, excluding dwellings, for the purpose of searching for aliens and patrolling the border to prevent the unlawful entry of aliens into the United States.”
