US EditionTrump Orders ICE Agents to Assist TSA at US Airports Amid Shutdown
About 50,000 TSA employees have worked without pay causing a 10-20% no-show rate; ICE agents will assist TSA with security duties amid the ongoing partial shutdown.
- On Monday, March 23, 2026, President Donald Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports to assist short-staffed Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at 14 locations amid a months-long partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
- Since February 14, 2026, a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown has forced Transportation Security Administration officers to work without pay. Consequently, more than 400 have resigned and callout rates soared to 42.4% at some airports, creating severe security line delays.
- Border czar Tom Homan stated ICE agents will perform support roles like monitoring exits: "We're simply there to help TSA do their job." Critics, including American Federation of Government Employees president Everett Kelley, argue agents lack aviation security training and could distract from screening.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the deployment, saying "Untrained ICE agents lurking at our airports is asking for trouble." Republicans blocked stand-alone Transportation Security Administration funding, insisting on full Department of Homeland Security appropriations, deepening the legislative stalemate.
- President Trump suggested he may deploy National Guard troops if airport measures prove insufficient. With Congress nearing a two-week recess and legislative resolution deadlocked, the shutdown's strain on travel operations and unpaid federal workers threatens to intensify.
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Senator Grassley says using ICE agents at airports takes away from immigration enforcement
Several TSA agents have left the job as the stalemate over their pay continues. President Donald Trump has moved to end the slowdowns at airport check points by using ICE agents for airport security. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says that is not the duty ICE agents should have. “You take those ICE agents away from […]
Senior Trump officials seem to have no idea what ICE agents are supposed to be doing at airports
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and border official Tom Homan offered sharply different accounts of what ICE agents would do, even as the administration deploys them.
'It’s kind of like a slap in the face': Indianapolis TSA workers react to ICE agents deploying to airports
INDIANAPOLIS — As the Trump Administration deploys U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to more airports experiencing hours-long lines, the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) is reporting that ICE will not assist Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at the Indianapolis International Airport for now. While the airport has experienced an increase in TSA wait times, [...]
ICE officers go to TSA checkpoints at Trump's direction, while long wait times at airports persist | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Armed federal immigration officers in tactical gear moved through terminals at some of the busiest U.S. airports Monday, standing near security lines and checkpoints after President Donald Trump ordered their deployment during a partial government shutdown that has disrupted air travel nationwide.
Will ICE agents deploy to Salt Lake City airport amid partial shutdown?
While long lines have made airport security screening a pain during the partial government shutdown, a Salt Lake City airport spokesperson said wait times in Utah's capital have been unscathed.
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