WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports on Monday if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety.
Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full paycheck on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown in its 36th day as lawmakers clash over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for TSA and ICE.
TSA officers have called in sick as paychecks have dried up, with the shortage of security agents disrupting travel at major airports. Over 10% of TSA officers called in sick on more than half of the past seven days, DHS said in a statement on Saturday.
More than 400 TSA workers have quit since the partial shutdown began on February 14, DHS said, adding that both resignations and callouts are expected to “significantly increase” as the shutdown drags on.
“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 wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
In a subsequent post, Trump said the deployment would begin on Monday “if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country.”
TSA has about 65,000 employees, including 50,000 airport security officers.
ICE CENTRAL TO TRUMP IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security, which is TSA’s domain. ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, drawing criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, criticized Trump’s proposal as “another reckless, lawless threat to misuse ICE agents.”
“He seems to have no concept of what the limits are on ICE, and I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they’ve been breaking down doors at homes,” Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.
Homeland Security historically has shifted resources across agencies during emergency staffing shortages, said Stewart Baker, who was a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Keeping TSA going without paying staff creates “serious trouble” for the agency, Baker said.
Using ICE agents for airport security “may be slower than using trained people, but it would be better than having nobody,” he added.
ICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, has deployed agents over the past few months to multiple areas as part of the crackdown, most recently to Minnesota in an operation that resulted in agents fatally shooting American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Their deaths sparked a backlash and led the Trump administration to adopt a more targeted approach in Minnesota.
Trump this month fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing criticism of the administration’s immigration tactics. The U.S. Senate is considering the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, as the next DHS secretary.
Trump has said his immigration policies are intended to curb illegal immigration and improve national security.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union said TSA had provided lists of airport travelers to ICE, calling the move a break from TSA’s prior practices.
(Reporting by Jason Lange, Mike Scarcella, Nolan McCaskill and Karen FreifeldEditing by Rod Nickel, Sergio Non and Nia Williams)
