What started as a social media post from President Trump on Saturday has quickly turned into a full-scale plan to deploy ICE agents to US airports.
Amid the partial government shutdown, TSA lines at some US airports have grown hours long, causing problems for travelers across the country. Call-out rates have begun to rise at some airports, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at least 376 TSA agents have walked off the job since the partial shutdown began Feb. 14.
White House border adviser Tom Homan said ICE plans to send agents to airports by Monday, and he is working with other officials to determine where to send agents.
“It’s a work in progress,” Homan said during an appearance Sunday on CNN. “But we will be at the airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines.”
Homan stressed that ICE agents will provide assistance where possible, so that TSA employees can better perform specific positions.
“I haven’t seen any ICE agents look at the X-ray machine because they’re not trained in it,” Homan said.
On Saturday, President Trump posted on social media, “If the radical left Democrats do not immediately sign an agreement to make our country, in particular, our airports free and safe again, I will take our talented and patriotic ICE agents to the airports where they will police them like no one has ever seen before.”
The White House’s plans had an immediate impact.
Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, released a statement that read, “Masked, armed police at travel checkpoints are the hallmark of dystopian movies. Now, Donald Trump is threatening to bring this tool of fascism to America. He is creating chaos at airports for political gain and forcing Democrats to accept unaccountable secret police at security checkpoints across the country.” Trying to force.”
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “The last thing the American people need is to deploy untrained ICE agents to airports across the country, potentially brutalizing them or, in some cases, killing them. We’ve already seen how ICE behaves.”
Representatives for Los Angeles International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Orange County’s John Wayne Airport said he is not currently aware of any communication or Homeland Security guidance on the proposed plan.
A spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport said airport officials have not yet received anything specific from Homeland Security about the deployment of ICE agents. He said SFO security personnel are not part of TSA, and as a result, the airport has no checkpoint backup.
