2 hours ago
US President Donald Trump has threatened to send agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide security at airports unless a funding deal is reached for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"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 posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
The DHS has been without funding since mid-February after Congress failed to agree on a funding bill, leaving airport security personnel unpaid.
A bill intended to fund DHS and provide payments for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at airports failed to advance in the Senate on Friday.
The Trump administration has blamed Democrats for the delay, as they have refused to pass funding without reforms to ICE, which operates under DHS.
As a result, thousands of TSA staff have been working without pay for over a month.
More than 300 TSA employees have reportedly quit during this period, while US media reported that unscheduled absences have more than doubled.
Long lines have formed at airports, and union officials say some officers are taking on second jobs. Some airports have even collected gift cards and food parcels to support TSA staff.
"Numerous employees have reported to me that their bank accounts are at zero or negative," Johnny Jones, a Dallas-based official in the government workers' union AFGE, told USA Today.
"No funds for daycare, no funds for food. They just want to know why the hell they can't get paid when we have money to shoot missiles into other countries," he added.
ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, making thousands of arrests since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. Its tactics have drawn heavy criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties groups, and NGOs.
Trump stated that the deployment of ICE agents would begin on Monday "if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country."
ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security.
Although ICE operates under DHS, it has not been significantly affected by the partial government shutdown because Congress had already provided separate funding for the agency.
Democrats have been demanding reforms to ICE following the deaths of two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were killed by federal agents during protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids in Minnesota in January.
The Democrats have requested that DHS bar immigration agents from wearing face masks, improve identification for officers, and tighten rules for obtaining warrants.
