ICE agents deployed to airports
As TSA staffing gaps grow, ICE agents are being deployed to U.S. airports to fill security roles — a move that mixes immigration enforcement with passenger-screening duties and raises training and operational concerns ( ).
Tom Homan said he and acting ICE director Tedd Lyons and acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill were finalizing a deployment plan Sunday to start Monday, March 23, 2026, including decisions about which airports to prioritize. (politico.com ) About 50,000 TSA officers have been working without pay amid the DHS funding lapse, with national absence rates spiking to roughly 10% and localized call‑out rates reported as high as 30–39% at major hubs such as JFK, Houston Hobby and Atlanta. (asisonline.org ) (wtop.com ) Multiple current and former TSA officials warned ICE officers lack classroom and on‑the‑job training to staff X‑ray units, check IDs and perform other specialized screening tasks, limiting ICE’s practical ability to relieve checkpoint bottlenecks. (govexec.com ) (forbes.com ) The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA officers, called the idea of replacing unpaid TSOs with “untrained, armed agents” dangerous and reiterated demands for pay restoration for roughly 50,000 workers. (afge.org ) Democrats and civil‑liberties lawmakers are pushing for oversight conditions — including body‑worn cameras, judicial warrants for enforcement actions, and prohibitions on masked agents — if ICE personnel operate inside airports. (time.com ) (pbs.org ) Homeland Security and ICE officials were described as “scrambling” to implement the directive, with department sources saying the initial tasks under consideration emphasize non‑specialized posts (for example, exit points) and that exact roles and oversight rules were not yet finalized. (cbsnews.com ) (govexec.com )
