Trump Deploys ICE Agents to U.S. Airports Amid DHS Shutdown and TSA Staffing Crisis

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to American airports starting Monday, March 23, 2026, to assist Transportation Security Administration staff overwhelmed by staffing shortages stemming from a partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. Trump posted the announcement on Truth Social, writing that ICE agents would go to airports "to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job." The DHS has gone without funding since mid-February 2026, after Congress failed to reach a budget agreement, leaving TSA employees, FEMA workers, and Coast Guard personnel without pay for more than a month. Travellers have faced hours-long security queues at airports in recent days as the staffing crisis deepened. The announcement came one day after Trump threatened on Saturday to make the move if Democrats did not immediately agree to fund the DHS.

Homan still finalizing agent numbers before Monday Border Czar Tom Homan, who is leading the deployment, told CNN's State of the Union that ICE agents will not be directly involved in screening passengers. Instead, Homan said, the agents will cover entry and exit points at airports, freeing up TSA officers to focus on the security screening work they are trained to perform. „That relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines” — Tom Homan via BBC Homan acknowledged that he was still working with TSA and ICE to finalize the details of the plan, including how many agents would be involved, but said the plan would be completed before agents are deployed on Monday. Trump's own Truth Social posts sent a mixed signal, however — while Homan described a support role, Trump separately mentioned that ICE agents in airports would also conduct arrests of undocumented immigrants, a function unrelated to reducing security lines. The gap between those two stated purposes has drawn scrutiny from critics and airport security experts alike.

Union chief says TSA workers deserve pay, not replacement The union representing TSA workers condemned the deployment in sharp terms. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said TSA agents had continued showing up to work without pay out of commitment to public safety. „Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe. They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.” — Everett Kelley via BBC Kelley argued that TSA officers spend months developing highly specialized skills to detect explosives, weapons, and sophisticated threats designed to evade screening, and that such expertise cannot be improvised. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also responded to the announcement Sunday, telling CNN the deployment was "the last thing that the American people need." „These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have, for the most part — let alone deploying them in close exposure and highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.” — Hakeem Jeffries via BBC

Minneapolis killings sparked Democratic demands for ICE reform The political impasse behind the shutdown traces back to January 2026, when federal immigration agents killed two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were protesting Trump administration immigration raids in Minnesota. Democrats responded by demanding a series of reforms to ICE conduct before agreeing to fund the DHS — including a ban on immigration agents wearing face masks, better identification requirements for agents, and tighter rules for obtaining warrants. Republicans refused to incorporate those amendments, and the resulting deadlock left the DHS without a funding bill. A bill that would have funded the DHS and provided back pay to TSA airport agents failed to advance in the Senate on Friday. The DHS was created in 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, consolidating dozens of federal agencies under a single department focused on domestic security. TSA was established at the same time as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, following the use of commercial aircraft as weapons in those attacks. Partial government shutdowns affecting individual departments have occurred multiple times in U.S. history when Congress fails to pass appropriations legislation, leaving federal employees working without pay or furloughed. Tom Homan had previously been sent by Trump to Minneapolis to address tensions following the killings of Good and Pretti, according to reporting by ANSA. The standoff now extends into airport security infrastructure, with both parties publicly blaming each other for the ongoing disruption to air travel across the United States.