Passengers wait in line at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) on Friday, March 20, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, US.
Eliza Novelz Bloomberg | getty images
Border czar Tom Homan said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would deploy to airports on Monday to help ease security amid the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
President Donald Trump threatened Saturday to deploy ICE agents at airports as the shutdown reached its second month and is causing headaches for travelers wading through hours-long security lines.
Homan confirmed that ICE would be deployed Monday during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“We’ll be at the airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines,” Homan said. He said ICE will assist in areas such as securing exit gates to relieve TSA agents for screening passengers. “We are simply there to help TSA do its job in areas where their particular expertise is not needed.”
The move to deploy ICE comes in the wake of the DHS shutdown, which began Feb. 14, which has strained airport workers. Many TSA agents have either withdrawn or quit the job altogether, instead working without pay. More than 400 TSA officers have left their jobs since the shutdown began, according to one nbc news Report.
Democrats are demanding legislative changes to immigration enforcement practices in exchange for funding to DHS after two US citizens were shot dead by ICE in Minneapolis.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York criticized the plan to deploy ICE agents at airports.
“The last thing the American people need is to have untrained ICE agents deployed to airports across the country who could potentially brutalize them or, in some cases, kill them,” Jefferies said on CNN.
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