US President Donald Trump has threatened to send agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide security at airports unless a deal is reached to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
The DHS has been without funding since mid-February due to Congress's failure to reach an agreement, leaving normal airport security personnel unpaid.
A bill that aimed to fund DHS and ensure compensation for TSA agents at airports failed to get through the Senate on Friday.
Trump's administration has placed the blame for the funding delays on Democratic lawmakers, who are demanding reforms to ICE as part of the funding negotiations.
Due to the funding deadlock, thousands of TSA employees have been working without pay for over a month, resulting in increased staff turnover and long wait times at airports.
Reports have surfaced indicating that more than 300 TSA staff members have quit, and unscheduled absences have more than doubled.
Numerous employees have reported to me that their bank accounts are at zero or negative, stated Johnny Jones, an official in the government workers' union, highlighting the financial struggles faced by workers.
ICE's Role and Future Measures
ICE has been at the forefront of Trump's immigration policy, facilitating numerous arrests since he returned to the presidency in January 2025. However, criticisms surrounding its operational methods have been voiced by Democrats and various civil rights groups.
Trump asserted that the deployment of ICE agents would commence on Monday unless the Democrats consent to sustain proper security at U.S. airports.
It's worth noting that ICE agents are specifically trained for immigration enforcement rather than airport security.
Currently, ICE remains largely unaffected by the government shutdown, having already received separate funding from Congress.
In light of recent tragic incidents involving federal agents and protesters, Democrats are calling for regulation reforms within ICE, including requiring identification for officers and limiting warrant procedures.
