Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were deployed to several U.S. airports Monday in a bid to alleviate the growing burden on TSA employees, whose ranks are thinning as they continue to go without pay.
Photos and videos taken by national and local media outlets showed agents with “Police – ICE” insignia at New York-JFK, Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare, Newark, New Jersey, Houston Hobby, and New Orleans. Those airports have seen some of the longest security wait times since the partial government shutdown began last month.
President Donald Trump first announced plans to send ICE agents to airports late last week, and Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed the deployment was moving forward over the weekend. But DHS leaders have been hesitant to release details, citing the risk of protests and disruptions.
Tom Homan, the White House’s “border czar,” told reporters Monday that agents were sent to 14 airports but did not name them.
“There will be more,” Homan added.
A source with knowledge of the matter told CNN that the 14 airports are Chicago O’Hare, Cleveland, Atlanta, Houston Hobby, JFK, LaGuardia, New Orleans, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Fort Myers, Florida, and Houston Bush.
LaGuardia was temporarily closed after a collision between an Air Canada aircraft and a fire truck killed two pilots and injured dozens of other people.
Over 400 TSA employees have resigned since mid-February, and a growing number are calling out of work. This has left officers who do report in with much higher workloads and fewer resources, increasing wait times for passengers.
Long lines were seen again over the weekend as the spring break travel season nears its peak. Some travelers in Atlanta faced a three-hour-long wait at security, and in New Orleans the TSA line stretched out of the airport and into the parking lot.
Democratic lawmakers in Congress are blocking funding for DHS in an effort to impose new oversight on ICE and Customs and Border Protection. All three agencies – TSA, ICE, and CBP – are part of the department.
So far, however, ICE and CBP employees have continued to be paid from funding allocated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while TSA staff are about to miss their second full paycheck.
Democratic leaders denounced Trump’s decision to send ICE to airports and said the deployment will create more problems than it solves.
It was not clear Monday what roles ICE agents will take on, or if they will be directly involved in screening passengers.
