Trump Proposes Deploying ICE Agents for Airport Security Duties

Donald Trump has issued a warning to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel at U.S. airports, a move sparked by increasing delays at TSA checkpoints amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.

In a sharply worded post on Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump declared, “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t promptly agree to a deal to make our Country, especially our Airports, FREE and SAFE once more, I will send our exceptional and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports to handle Security like never before.”

He continued, “This includes the immediate detention of all Illegal Immigrants who have entered our Country, with a strong focus on those from Somalia, who have utterly ruined, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota.”

“I am eager to witness ICE in action at our airports,” he concluded.

According to KATU, there could be significant legal and logistical challenges in having immigration officers assume traditional airport security responsibilities.

Wait times to pass security have stretched to more than two hours in some airports around the US after TSA workers’ pay was stopped, causing staffing shortages.

Workers will be forced to continue working without pay until the Senate agrees on terms for reopening the government. 

In the meantime, former head of DOGE Elon Musk has offered to pay the salaries of TSA workers during the funding impasse. 

Trump threatened to send ICE agents to airports as TSA employees work without pay

Wait times at TSA across the country have reached up to two hours as employees work without pay

‘I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,’ Musk posted on X this morning. 

TSA officers make about $50,000 per year on average, according to The New York Times. Musk, the richest man in the world, is valued at $814.3 billion.

TSA’s acting deputy administrator threatened that airports may have to shut down altogether if the chaos continues. 

‘It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up,’ Adam Stahl said. 

A bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to advance Friday in the Senate, meaning Stahl’s prediction could come closer to reality soon.

‘The reality of the situation is this is going to get worse before it gets better, if we don’t see any sort of action,’ Stahl said. 

TSA officials have stated that airports may have to shut down altogether amid the lengthy lapse in funding

On the Senate floor, Schumer needs to reopen TSA as quickly as possible — but not under the terms Republicans are offering, which is to fund the entire Homeland Security department. 

Democrats are looking to fund TSA while continuing negotiations on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security expired on February 14 after the Senate failed to agree on a new budget. The agency oversees both TSA and ICE. 

About 50,000 TSA workers have been working without pay for more than a month. Some can no longer afford to pay their rent, buy gas or food. 

At least 366 agents nationwide have quit their jobs, the DHS said.

Staffing shortages were caused by an ongoing partial government shutdown

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the lines are so long that they have spilled beyond screening checkpoints and into the baggage claim area. 

Salt Lake City International Airport and Denver International Airport reported wait times of 30 minutes, while Dallas-Fort Worth saw delays of 24 minutes. 

Meanwhile, ICE agents are still being paid, reported the American Prospect. 

Though department funding was cut, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act allocated $175 billion to immigration and border patrol agencies.

The Daily Mail contacted the Department of Homeland Security for more information.