Tom Homan confirms ICE deployment at airports starting Monday
White House border czar Tom Homan said ICE agents will be deployed to airports across the country on Monday to help Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers who have been working without pay for more than five weeks during the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Just 24 hours before the plan takes effect, Tom Homan said he was working on a plan to deploy ICE agents starting at the larger airports where wait times are longest.“How big of a plan is it to guard an exit to make sure no one goes through that exit?” Homan said.Homan said because ICE agents are so well trained, not much planning is needed to cover exports. “You know, well-trained ICE enforcement officers can certainly cover the exits. Things like making sure people don’t go through those exits, into the airport through the exits, gives TSA officers peace of mind conducting security screenings and reduces lines,” Homan added.President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will deploy ICE agents to airports as early as Monday to help ease long lines. “ICE will do better than ever!” he wrote in a Truth Society post on Saturday.But what will ICE agents do? Homan said they will help move lines. They can’t look into an X-ray machine because they’re not trained to do it. “As long as we can provide additional security, I won’t see ICE agents looking at X-ray machines because [they’re] Not trained in this area. TSA is doing some security work and we can move them from those jobs to specialized jobs to help move those lines,” he said.ICE immigration enforcement at airports will also continue. More than 400 TSA agents have resigned since the government shutdown as Senate lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Elon Musk on Saturday offered to pay Transportation Security Administration personnel as the standoff continued. “I am willing to pay TSA personnel while this funding impasse is negatively impacting the lives of so many Americans at airports across the country,” Musk posted on X.
