March 29 (UPI) — Amid growing chaos at airports during the 44-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown, Immigration and Custody Enforcement agents have been deployed to airports to help Transportation Security Administration agents — and they may be in for an extended stay.
As Congress has not been able to agree on a bill to fund DHS because of disagreements about ICE unrelated to air travel, TSA agents who have not gotten paid are increasingly calling out of work or quitting their jobs.
White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday told CNN and CBS News that whether ICE retains a presence at airports will depend when “airports feel like they’re 100% in a posture where they can do normal operations.”
The White House on Monday deployed ICE to airports around the country, where they received training to use TSA equipment and standard operating procedures.
By Wednesday, they could be seen screening travelers, checking documents and assisting TSA agents move lines of people through security, The New York Times reported.
Thursday, Senate Democrats again blocked a bill to fund DHS because it does not include new guardrails for ICE agents carrying out the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
As a result, President Donald Trump said that he would pay TSA agents out of funds approved in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill, in addition to sending ICE to assist at airports.
Over the last 44 days, thousands of TSA agents have called out sick and nearly 500 have quick their jobs during the second shutdown in a year that has prevented them from being paid on time, The Boston Globe reported.
Homan said Sunday that how long and how many ICE agents will continue to work at airports will depend on how many TSA agents come back, and that he is working with TSA to determine what level of staffing they need as time goes on.
“In an increased threat posture, we need to secure those airports,” Homan said. “ICE is there to help our brothers and sisters in TSA. We’ll be there as long as they need us, until they get back to normal operations and feel like those airports are secure.”
After failing to pass a bill funding any part of DHS, Congress left Washington, D.C., for a two-week recess.
