US President Donald Trump announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be sent to US airports on Monday to assist Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff.
“On Monday, ICE will be heading to airports to help our amazing TSA agents who are stuck on the job,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
Like ICE, the Transportation Security Administration falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is responsible for passenger security checks at airports.
Budget impasse over immigration crackdown
DHS has been operating without funding since Feb. 14 as Democratic lawmakers demand reforms in the wake of Trump’s deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Democrats have called for reduced patrols, a ban on face masks and a requirement for ICE agents to obtain judicial warrants before entering private property.
Due to the shutdown, TSA agents have been working without pay for several weeks. Many of them are out of work, increasing wait times at screening lines, sometimes to several hours.
More than 300 TSA employees have walked off the job since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, according to DHS. According to union officials, some officers have taken other jobs or depend on donations.
How can ICE agents help TSA?
Tom Homan, a senior border aide to the president, told CNN that ICE agents will not work at airports for which they are not trained.
“I’ve never seen an ICE agent look at an X-ray machine because you’re not trained in that,” he said. Instead, agents will provide additional security where needed, such as monitoring exits.
“We’ll make a plan today and execute it tomorrow,” Homan said.
Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said on Sunday he believed the situation would get “much worse” in the coming days. “As it gets worse, I think that puts pressure on Congress to reach a resolution,” he told ABC.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah