By Grace Zokovitch
Boston Herald
WASHINGTON — ICE agents will deploy at airports around the country to assist with TSA duties on Monday, as a partial government shutdown continues to impact airport security personnel, President Trump announced Sunday.
“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump posted on social media Sunday.
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TSA workers are among those who have missed paychecks due to a now six-week long shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, as congressional representatives have fought over a funding bill. Some TSA personnel have quit — over 300, according to the White House — or ceased coming into work, causing wait times to jump at some airports around the country.
Details of what the ICE deployment in airports would mean remained scant Sunday, though the president said border czar Tom Homan would be in charge of the deployment.
Homan said on CNN he was “currently working on the plan” with ICE and TSA officials Sunday and would be ready to execute it Monday. Asked if ICE agent would do immigration enforcement in airports, Homan said, “we do immigration enforcement at the airports all the time, so it’s not going to change.”
“There are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant role, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker,” Homan said. “And we’re just simply helping our fellow officers at TSA.”
ICE agents won’t assist with “specialized skills” like using the X-ray machine, Homan said. On ABC though, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the agents “know how to run the X-ray machines because they are again under Homeland Security with TSA.”
As to where ICE agents will be deployed Monday, the border czar said that would be based on discussions Sunday.
“My opinion is that we concentrate on the airports where the longest waits are,” Homan said. “We prioritize those large airports with long waits, like three hours.”
In Boston, Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan said they have “not seen any impacts to the checkpoints due to the ongoing shutdown” at Logan Airport.
Mehigan said Massport has heard about the ICE deployment but doesn’t “have anything further” as of Sunday afternoon.
The American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents TSA officers, expressed concern with ICE agents’ lack of training, noting “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.”
“Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
As over 50,000 TSA employees have worked without pay for over five weeks and hundreds have quit, Kelley said, bringing in untrained ICE agents creates a further gap in security.
“Congress has the power to fund TSA today,” Kelley said. “It’s time for them to stop playing politics and do their jobs.”
The latest bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security failed to garner Democrat approval to advance in the Senate on Friday, and Republicans likewise voted down an unusual measure introduced by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to fund TSA during the shutdown on Saturday.
House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN “the last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country” on Sunday.
Asked about the status of negotiations on Sunday, Homan said the lawmakers are “having good conversations.”
“A lot of the changes after Minneapolis have already been implemented,” Homan said of Democrats priorities under discussion, citing “clear identification” of ICE agents and “a problem with access to detention.”
“But, you know, more conversations need to be had, because we certainly can’t surrender ICE’s authorities and and their congressionally mandated job,” said Homan. “So we’re having those discussions. It’s really about policy execution more than policy.”
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