Border czar Tom Homan confirmed the deployment. But ICE won't be running X-ray machines — and the TSA union isn't happy.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deploy to US airports starting Monday, March 24th — a direct consequence of the 35-day DHS shutdown that has left TSA checkpoints severely understaffed at the peak of spring break season.
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the move over the weekend after President Trump threatened the deployment if Congress didn't reach a deal to end the DHS shutdown. Congress didn't reach a deal. So here we are.
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The union representing TSA officers pushed back immediately. Their argument is straightforward — ICE agents aren't trained in aviation security, and putting untrained personnel in airport environments creates risks that go beyond the staffing problem it's meant to solve. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the plan reckless. Nancy Pelosi, speaking from San Francisco, called it "completely wrong."
Supporters counter that the alternative is worse — airports grinding to a halt during the busiest travel week of the spring. If ICE agents can take over door-watching duties so one more TSA officer can get on a screening line, the math works.
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The optics are complicated for different reasons too. ICE, in the current political environment, carries heavy associations with immigration enforcement. Deploying ICE-branded agents in airport terminals — even in a support role — is going to be noticed. By travelers. By the press. By everyone.
Whether this is a stopgap measure that buys Congress time to negotiate or the beginning of a new normal depends entirely on what happens in Washington this week. The shutdown needs to end. Everything else is a band-aid.
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Claire MorrisonClaire Morrison is a correspondent at dailytrends covering Breaking News. All articles are fact-checked and editorially reviewed before publication.
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