US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have deployed to major airports across the country, helping to fill the void as thousands of security staff who are going without pay refuse to work.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees are increasingly absent, having not received pay in weeks due to a partial government shutdown that began on 14 February. Their absence has created huge queues and hours-long wait times at airport security checkpoints. More than 3,400 TSA agents called out of work on Sunday.
On Monday, White House border tsar Tom Homan said hundreds of ICE agents had been deployed to 14 airports in cities including New York, Atlanta, and Houston. Photos of the agents showed them at New York's John F. Kennedy airport and Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, Georgia, among others. However, they were not wearing masks or face coverings as they have done elsewhere.
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl stated that ICE agents would be at airports to help support staff in non-specialised security functions, freeing TSA agents to focus more on aviation security specifically. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has indicated that wait times have become so long that travelers are sleeping in the airport to avoid missing flights.
In a letter sent to Congress, over 100 airport leaders expressed their deep concern about the growing operational disruptions caused by the shutdown, emphasizing that the impacts are significant, growing, and potentially long-lasting.
While Trump mentioned that ICE agents could make arrests, leaders like Derrick Johnson of the NAACP criticized the deployment, questioning the adequacy of training and the potential for profiling based on race and accent. The ongoing staffing crisis continues to pose significant challenges for TSA and raises critical questions about airport security in the current political climate.
