White House border czar Tom Homan said ICE agents will be deployed to airports across the country Monday to help TSA officers who have been working without pay for more than five weeks during the partial Homeland Security shutdown. 24 hours before the plan came into effect, Tom Homan said he was working on a plan for the deployment of ICE agents beginning at large airports that have seen the longest wait times.
“How much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit to make sure no one comes through that exit?” Homan said.
Homan said it does not need much of a plan to cover an exit as ICE agents are highly trained. “You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit.
Make sure people don’t go through those exits, enter an airport through the exits and stuff like that, relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines,” Homan added.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would deploy ICE agents to airports as soon as Monday to help ease long lines. “ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.
But what will ICE agents do? Homan said they will help move the lines.
They will not look at X-ray machines because they are not trained in that. “Wherever we can provide extra security — I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because [they’re] not trained in that. There are certain parts of security that TSA is doing, that we can move them off those jobs and put them in the specialized jobs, help move those lines,” he said.
Immigration enforcement by ICE at airports will also continue.
Over 400 TSA agents have quit since the shutdown began after lawmakers in the Senate failed to reach an agreement to fund DHS. As the stalemate continued, Elon Musk Saturday offered to pay the salary of the TSA personnel.
“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.
