The Department of Homeland Security Monday began deploying ICE agents to augment TSA workers at U.S. airports, as the travel industry grew increasingly frustrated with the department's funding lapse.
Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens confirmed that Hartsfield Jackson Airport, where hour-long security lines spilled out the door over the weekend, was one of the airports where ICE agents are deployed on security detail.
"According to federal officials, these personnel will be assigned to support operational needs directed by the Transportation Security Administration, including line management and crowd control within the domestic terminals," Dickens said in a statement. "Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities."
"All federal personnel will report directly to TSA for the duration of this assignment."
The DHS shutdown is now in its sixth week, during which transportation security officers aren't being paid. Some airports, including Atlanta, have seen spiking security lines amid reports of TSA agent callouts.
Acting assistant DHS secretary Lauren Bis said Monday that 11.8% of TSA agents, amounting to more than 3,450 officers, called out on Sunday, the highest number so far of the shutdown. Among large airports, call-out rates were more than 20% in Phoenix, Philadelphia, New York LaGuardia, Pittsburgh, New York JFK, Baltimore, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Atlanta and New Orleans.
She also said that more than 400 TSA officers had resigned due to what she termed a "pointless, reckless shutdown."
Long security lines have surfaced during the shutdown, but weekend news reports described hours-long waits in terminals in Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York.
Bis declined to confirm which airports will receive the ICE agents, citing operational and security reasons. The New York Times reported Monday that in addition to Atlanta, ICE agents had been spotted Monday at Newark and Chicago O'Hare airports. The Times also said it had obtained a document stating that deployments would be made in Phoenix, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Fort Myers and Philadelphia.
Bis said the ICE deployment, "will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.
Why DHS has been shut down
Congressional Democrats have been at a DHS funding impasse with Republicans and the White House over demands for reforms at ICE. Over the weekend, President Trump also stated that before he'd sign a DHS funding bill, Democrats must sign off on a separate bill that would require stricter ID requirements for voting.
Plans to put ICE on airport security detail materialized quickly over the weekend after President Trump threatened in a Truth Social post to deploy ICE at airports unless Democrats give in. Trump said those agents, "will do security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our country."
Shortly thereafter, he confirmed that the deployment would happen.
In an interview with CNN Sunday, border czar Tom Homan said ICE agents wouldn't be assigned to actual security screening, a task for which they aren't trained. Instead, they'd assist with other tasks typically done by TSA officers, such a manning the exit doors of the secured section of the airport to make sure nobody makes entry there. By doing that, ICE agents would free up more TSA agents to work security lines, Homan said.
Acting deputy TSA administrator Adam Stahl backed up those comments Monday morning on Fox News, saying ICE agents will be a force multiplier, helping TSA officers focus on screening tasks.
Homan also said that ICE agents have long been stationed at U.S. airports conducting immigrant enforcement.
Frustration from travel industry groups
But the move is drawing harsh criticism from the union that represents TSA officers, which said it will cause new problems rather than resolve existing one.
"More than 50,000 TSA employees have worked without pay for over five weeks. Hundreds have quit. And Washington's answer isn't to pay them. It's to send ICE agents to do their jobs," American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelly said in a statement.
"ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security," he said. "TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints -- skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice and ongoing recertification. You cannot improvise that. Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one."
Kelly called on Congress to fund TSA.
Airlines for America on March 15 published an open letter signed by 10 CEOs, including those of Delta, American, United, Alaska, Southwest and JetBlue, which implored Congress to pay federal workers like TSA during shutdowns.
"Too many travelers are having to wait in extraordinarily long--and painfully slow--lines at checkpoints," the letter read. "Wait times of 2, 3 and even 4 hours have been reported. Airlines are doing everything we can to mitigate disruption by holding flights for late passengers and rebooking others."
And in a scathing statement Monday titled "A paid vacation for Congress, a $0 paycheck for TSA," the U.S. Travel Association wrote: "Come Friday, if Congress fails to do its job and pass a DHS funding bill, they'll head to the airports, get escorted to the front of the security line and be screened by the very TSA officers they failed to pay. Meanwhile, millions of Americans will arrive at airports over the next three weeks to face hours-long waits and endless frustration.
"Fix this before you leave Washington," it added.
Update: The original Associated Press report has been replaced with a report by Travel Weekly with new information throughout.