Funding for both ICE and TSA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, expired on February 14 because the Senate could not pass a funding bill for the department.
Democrats have refused to sign a DHS funding bill without making minor changes to the rules governing ICE’s crackdown on immigrants, especially in light of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents.
The reduction in funding has placed immense financial pressure on TSA employees, who are expected to work without pay for the second time in six months, the first of which will occur during the longest full government shutdown in U.S. history.
A third of the TSA agents working at half the busiest airports across the country walked off the job Saturday. With airports operating at reduced capacity, travelers are facing incredibly long lines at security checkpoints.
As Democrats balked at DHS funding requirements, Trump threatened to deploy ICE on his Truth social account on Saturday, claiming agents would not only help the TSA but also arrest immigrants, with “a heavy emphasis on the people of Somalia.”
The union representing TSA officers immediately issued a statement against the decision, saying that ICE agents would create more problems than they could solve.
“ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security,” Everett Kelly, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in the statement. “Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints doesn’t fill a void. It creates a void.”
There is inconsistency coming from administration officials about what exactly ICE agents are well-trained to accomplish.
Homan told CNN that TSA agents will handle “non-critical roles” that don’t require “special expertise” … like securing exits so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people through quickly.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told ABC News that ICE agents have adequate security training, and “they run the same type of security machines they do at the southern border.”
After all, there are no clear plans yet on how deployment will happen tomorrow. Homan told CNN he expected a “well-thought-out plan” to be finalized before the deployment, which is just hours away.
The union argues that there is a better way to solve the problem: paying workers.
“Our members at TSA are coming in every day without pay because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” Kelly said. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
Both ICE and TSA are funded by DHS, but ICE was not affected by the partial government shutdown thanks to the $75 billion it received from Trump’s One Big Beautiful bill last year. Democrats such as House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have suggested funding TSA and other agencies under DHS by separating ICE and Customs and Border Protection funding, but the bill failed in the Senate as Republicans and Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against it.
Although most Republicans are against separating ICE and CBP from the DHS funding bill, some, such as Senator Ted Cruz, have recently begun to support the idea. Republican Senator John Kennedy said that if a DHS bill passed without the immigration agencies, ICE could be funded through a reconciliation bill that could pass with 50 votes in the Senate, where Republicans have 53 seats.
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