Trump Deploys ICE Agents to US Airports to Support TSA During DHS Shutdown

President Trump has ordered US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be deployed to US airports starting Monday, January 20, 2025.

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The plan involves ICE agents performing support roles such as guarding exit lanes and checking passenger identification.

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TSA officers will focus on screening passengers and baggage while ICE provides support.

White House border czar Tom Homan leads this effort and emphasized ICE agents would not perform screenings they are not trained for.

Trump announced the deployment on social media, praising TSA agents who have stayed on the job despite the shutdown.

Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers have been without pay for over five weeks due to the DHS funding impasse.

Democratic leaders have sharply criticized the ICE deployment plan with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling it 'the last thing that the American people need.'

Jeffries warned that untrained ICE agents could 'potentially brutalize or, in some instances, kill them,' referencing fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis.

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He accused Republicans of forcing TSA agents to work without pay and creating chaos at airports rather than addressing immigration enforcement issues.

Labor unions condemned the move, with AFGE president Everett Kelley stating TSA staff 'deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents.'

The US Travel Association argued that the priority should be paying TSA officers rather than deploying immigration enforcement personnel.

Airports across the country continue to experience severe disruptions due to understaffed TSA checkpoints.

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Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport had travelers waiting nearly six hours with only two TSA agents checking IDs.

Many passengers missed flights and scrambled to book later options as standby lists grew long.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens confirmed ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers would deploy starting Monday morning.

Dickens emphasized the deployment 'is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities.'

Homan indicated priority would be large airports with three-hour plus waits and that operational details were still being finalized.

Hundreds of ICE officers are expected to be deployed but specific airports not yet disclosed for security reasons.

The deployment occurs amid an ongoing budget standoff where Democrats demand major changes to federal immigration operations.

Democrats show no sign of backing down, particularly after deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis immigration enforcement operation.

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Two major sticking points remain: judicial warrants for immigration enforcement and ICE agents removing their masks.

The Senate advanced Sen. Markwayne Mullin's nomination as next homeland security secretary by party-line vote.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned more TSA agents may quit if impasse continues.

The deployment represents unprecedented blurring of DHS mandates.

ICE agents are largely being paid during shutdown thanks to Trump's tax breaks bill from last year.