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Trump Orders ICE Agents to Assist TSA at US Airports Amid Shutdown

President Trump announced ICE agents will assist TSA amid a DHS shutdown causing over 400 TSA quits and long airport security lines, with deployment starting Monday if no funding deal.

  • On Saturday, March 21, 2026, President Donald Trump threatened to deploy immigration enforcement agents to U.S. airports, posting 'I will move our brilliant and 'patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before'.
  • Facing a partial DHS shutdown, the 50,000-strong TSA workforce has worked without pay since a funding bill expired five weeks ago and faces missing a second paycheck on March 27.
  • At major hubs, passengers faced 120-minute waits at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and 80 minutes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport amid staffing gaps, with over half absent Sunday in Houston and 38% missing Wednesday in Atlanta.
  • Officials cautioned that some smaller airports could close and wait times won't improve until funding is restored and TSA officers are paid, while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer proposed funding only TSA as Democrats press for policy changes for ICE.
  • Negotiators intensified talks when White House border czar Tom Homan met bipartisan senators, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said 'This is a pox on everybody's house', and Elon Musk offered to pay TSA officers' salaries.
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The ministry has been operating without funding for a month. Airport workers are not getting paid, so they are leaving their jobs in increasing numbers.

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Spectrum News broke the news in United States on Saturday, March 21, 2026.
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