Amid escalating delays at U.S. airport security checkpoints, President Donald Trump has directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to support beleaguered Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff grappling with the fallout from a prolonged government funding dispute.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has lacked congressional backing since mid-February, plunging frontline screeners into unpaid work amid soaring absenteeism and resignations.
Official White House data reveals over 400 TSA departures since the partial shutdown took hold, with absence rates climbing 10 to 15 per cent at busy terminals such as Atlanta and Los Angeles.
In a Truth Social message, Trump outlined the immediate response. “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job,” he stated.
Border security lead Tom Homan elaborated on CNN’s State of the Union, explaining that ICE personnel would handle access points to allow TSA teams to prioritise passenger scans and slash queues. “That relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines,” Homan noted, with deployment details set for finalisation ahead of Monday.
This follows Trump’s sharper Saturday warning. “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” he posted. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy endorsed the tactic on ABC’s This Week, drawing parallels to ICE’s border screening expertise. “We have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance,” Duffy affirmed.
A DHS spokesperson told CBS News that the president was exhausting every avenue to aid travellers. “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,” the spokesperson said.
Unions pushed back forcefully. American Federation of Government Employees president Everett Kelley lauded TSA loyalty. “Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” he said, before cautioning, “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries decried the move on CNN as misguided. Democrats cite ICE’s troubled record, including January’s fatal Minnesota protest shootings, in demanding reforms like mask prohibitions and stricter oversight. A weekend Senate funding bid faltered, leaving the impasse to fester.