More than 50,000 TSA officers working without pay have missed their first full paycheck, creating hours-long security lines during peak spring break travel. The president’s threat comes as Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked over immigration enforcement reforms following the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis.
President Donald Trump said Saturday he will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports beginning Monday unless Democrats agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security, escalating a five-week standoff that has left security screeners unpaid and airport lines stretching into parking garages.
“If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” Bloomberg
By Sunday morning, Trump confirmed the deployment was going forward. “On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents,” Trump wrote, placing border czar Tom Homan in charge of the operation France 24.
It remains unclear what role ICE agents — who are not trained in airport security screening — would play at the nation’s airports. George Borek, an Atlanta TSA officer and union steward, told CNN that becoming a certified TSA officer “takes weeks and months to do. The president can have them come there but I don’t see how that helps us in getting through this time period.” Fortune
Borek noted the lack of proper training could create security problems: “If you bring people in there, they are not trained, they don’t know what they’re looking for, then certainly it could be a problem.” Fortune
In a Sunday interview, Homan defended the plan, saying: “When we deploy tomorrow, we’ll have a well-thought-out plan to execute. ICE has been at airports across the country for a long time. It’s just expanding those things.” ITV News The ICE agents could potentially help with line management or directing passengers to free up trained TSA officers, though administration officials have not provided specifics.
In an earlier post Saturday, Trump indicated the agents would do more than crowd control. He said ICE agents’ work would include “the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” with Trump specifying “heavy emphasis on those from Somalia” Bloomberg.
The threat comes as the DHS shutdown entered its 36th day Saturday, matching the early weeks of last year’s record-breaking full government shutdown. The partial shutdown began in mid-February after Senate Democrats voted down Republican efforts to pass a bill to fully fund DHS Bloomberg.
More than 100,000 DHS employees — including 50,000 TSA officers — are working without paychecks for the third time in six months CiberCuba. TSA employees received only a partial paycheck on February 28. They missed their first full paycheck on March 14 CNBC, with the next payday scheduled for March 27.
The financial strain has created a staffing crisis at airports nationwide. As of March 17, 366 TSA officers had quit their jobs CBS News. Unscheduled absences among airport security officers have more than doubled during the shutdown, climbing to an average of 6% nationwide compared with about 2% before the funding lapse Fortune.
At some airports, the callout rates have been catastrophic. The highest single-day airport callout rate reached 55% at Houston Hobby International Airport on March 14 CBS News. At John F. Kennedy International Airport, TSA officers averaged a 21% absence rate during the shutdown, the highest among major airports Fortune.
The result has been chaos for travelers during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Security wait times at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport exceeded three hours Friday morning Bloomberg. In Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, lines have snaked through concourses and out of terminals. Some airports have been forced to shut down checkpoints entirely due to staffing shortages.
Acting Deputy TSA Administrator warned Tuesday: “As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports, particularly smaller ones, if call-out rates go up.” CNN
A young TSA agent in Atlanta told CNN he has had to ask for both his rent and car payments to be pushed back. “I thought the airport would be a safe place to work,” he said, adding that he’s feeling the pressure “more than I can express.”
At the heart of the shutdown is a bitter dispute over immigration enforcement. In February, Democrats vowed to shut down DHS until Republicans agreed to new checks on ICE agents such as requiring them to wear identification and banning them from wearing face coverings Bloomberg.
The move came after two Americans — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed by federal law enforcement in Minnesota in January during a major immigration crackdown in the state Bloomberg.
Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE officer on January 7 CNN. Seventeen days later, Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the Department of Veterans Affairs, was shot multiple times and killed by two Customs and Border Protection officers CNN. Both were U.S. citizens.
Bystander video showed Pretti filming law enforcement agents with his phone and directing traffic when he stepped between an agent and a woman the agent had pushed to the ground. He was then pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by several federal agents, with around six surrounding him when he was shot and killed CNN.
The killings sparked massive protests in Minneapolis and cities across the country. They also prompted Democrats to demand sweeping reforms to immigration enforcement operations, including requiring agents to clearly identify themselves, obtain warrants before entering homes, and coordinate more closely with local law enforcement.
Republicans have rejected those demands as non-starters. They have also blocked Democratic proposals to vote on funding for TSA separately from funding for ICE and other immigration agencies.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said from the Senate floor Saturday: “It is unacceptable for workers and travelers and entire airports to get taken hostage in political games, but that’s what the Republicans are doing. It is unacceptable to say we will only pay TSA workers if it is attached to a bill that funds ICE with no reforms, but that’s what the Republicans have been doing.” NPR
Senate Republicans on Saturday blocked a Democratic effort to pass a stand-alone bill to fund TSA in a 41-49 vote Fortune, the fifth time Democrats have been unable to advance DHS funding since the shutdown began.
This week, bipartisan negotiators on Capitol Hill met with fresh energy to work to end the shutdown. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, met with a bipartisan group of senators Friday evening in what sources from both parties called “productive” Bloomberg. Multiple Republicans said the administration had bolstered its latest offer to Democrats, though they declined to specify details.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he believed the Friday meeting was productive and confirmed that the Trump administration submitted new legislative text, though the contents have not been made public.
Vice President JD Vance accused Democrats on Sunday of holding the TSA “hostage,” posting on X: “We’ve all seen the chaos unleashed by Democrats at airports across the country. It’s preposterous that Chuck Schumer continues to hold TSA funding hostage. Thankfully, ICE will bring sanity to our airports starting tomorrow, but it’s far past time for Democrats to fund DHS.” France 24
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, a key progressive voice, countered: “They want to hold TSA hostage so that they can continue getting Democrats to fund the illegality happening at ICE.” Fortune
In an unexpected development, Tesla CEO and former Trump advisor Elon Musk said Saturday he would like to cover the paychecks of TSA officers during the shutdown. “I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk posted on X CBS News.
With Congress scheduled to begin a two-week recess on March 27 and no signs of an imminent deal, the outlook for TSA workers and travelers remains grim. TSA workers told The Wall Street Journal that March 27 is a make-or-break day. “If Congress ends up leaving for the recess without reaching a deal, TSA workers say they’re not sure they’re going to be able to make it into work after that,” the Journal reported.
Airport officials are scrambling to mitigate the impact. In Atlanta, the airport is providing TSA workers with free parking and one meal voucher per shift. Seattle’s airport has launched a food pantry for unpaid federal employees.
But behind the immediate crisis lies a longer-term problem. TSA recorded 305 employee separations between Feb. 14 and March 9, and it can take months to replace those officers because of the four to six months of training required before employees are able to work independently at checkpoints Fortune.
DHS officials warn that prolonged funding gaps can have lasting effects on the screening workforce because employees who are struggling to cover basic expenses may leave the job entirely, further undermining recruitment and retention efforts over the long term Fortune.
Whether ICE agents will arrive at airports Monday — and what they will actually do when they get there — remained uncertain Sunday evening. What is certain is that for the tens of thousands of TSA workers showing up to work without paychecks, and the millions of travelers facing hours-long waits, the political standoff in Washington has very real consequences.