Travelers at America’s busiest airports on Monday saw Department of Homeland Security workers, including ICE agents, tasked with assisting the Transportation Security Administration as they entered another week without pay due to a partial government shutdown.
NBC News confirmed that ICE and DHS officials and agents were at several major airports, including Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
At O’Hare Terminal 3, armed DHS agents and officers were seen on the walkway connecting the secure area to the general terminal. An officer in charge of the area told an NBC News reporter that ICE agents are helping with security and checking people’s IDs as they pass by.
The recall rate for TSA workers, who have not been paid in several weeks, hit a high on Sunday, at 11.76%, according to DHS.
As of Sunday, New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport had a call rate of 42.3%, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was 41.5% and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was 37.4%, a DHS spokeswoman said.
The presence of ICE and DHS agents and officials was a popular topic of conversation among passengers and crew on a flight from Memphis to Atlanta Monday morning. In one interview heard by NBC News, the pilot and crew said they hoped ICE agents wouldn’t cause a stir, because “they’re not trained to be as patient as we are in this business.”
A senior ICE official told NBC News that at least 50 ICE agents will be at each airport and will not be conducting screening operations. Another ICE official said ICE officers and agents are not trained to use the magnetometers or X-ray machines that TSA agents use and do not monitor at airports.
ICE officers and agents are trained in crowd control, patrol lines and ID checks, skills that can be useful in airline lines that lead to security checks, a second ICE official said. Ukugibela izindiza zasekhaya kudinga i-Real ID noma iphasiphothi, okukhawulela ukuboshwa kwabokufika ezikhumulweni zezindiza.
Americans have found themselves crammed into crowded airports with long security lines in recent days, some taking as long as three hours to get through.
The extended government shutdown of parts of the Department of Homeland Security, a result of immigration policy inaction, has coincided with spring break when TSA employees are out of the agency or on unpaid leave.
White House border chief Tom Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that ICE agents will be deployed to some airports starting Monday to assist TSA officials with security at entry and exit points. He said ICE officers will first be sent to airports with high wait times.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that it was his idea to send agents to airports and said that “if that’s not enough, I’m going to bring in the National Guard. He wrote on Truth Social that “ICE will do a better job than ever!”
Trump said he requested that ICE officers not wear masks at airports, even though he supports them wearing masks in their immigration enforcement duties.
ICE officials and airport agents are intensifying an already heated partisan battle in Congress over DHS funding, which expired last month. Trump on Monday urged Republicans not to make any deals with Democrats until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, the president’s comprehensive ballot bill.
“The most important part of national security is voter ID and proof of citizenship,” Trump said at an event in Memphis, Tennessee. “No one can vote on Homeland Security without a voter ID or proof of citizenship.”
The deployment of ICE officials raised some concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Sunday that “families traveling to see loved ones should not have to deal with ICE agents who may not have the training or experience in airport security.”
“Never in our history has a president sent armed agents to an airport to instill fear in families,” the ACLU said.
More on the TSA and the impact of the shutdown:
Matt Hill, spokesman for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said, “Instead of paying our TSA workers and fixing the long lines at airports, President Trump is pouring fuel on the fire.”
“Illinois knows firsthand how untrained, masked agents strike fear into our families and wreak havoc in our communities,” Hill said, adding that Trump and Republicans need to vote on specific legislation to pay TSA agents “to get airports back on track.”
As of Monday morning, NBC News confirmed the presence of ICE officers and agents at 13 airports, although airports can be added and removed from the list throughout the day:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York)
- LaGuardia Airport (New York)
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Pittsburgh International Airport
- Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, Florida)
Customs and Border Protection officials are often present at airports ahead of this week’s ICE deployment. CBP is involved in screening arrivals and cargo, while the Border Patrol conducts enforcement at other airports.
