The Trump administration deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to more than a dozen major U.S. airports on Monday, saying they could help keep increasingly long security queues moving as unpaid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents call out from work.

Wait times ballooned at many major U.S. airports over the weekend as the partial government shutdown enters its sixth week, including delays of four-plus hours at both Atlanta (ATL) and Houston-Intercontinental (IAH) due to TSA staffing shortages. Atlanta's security situation has gotten so bad, the airport took down (or broke) its own wait time monitor. The Houston airport won't operate TSA PreCheck lanes after mid-morning Monday – or offer CLEAR+, period.

Read next: How to Check TSA Wait Times (& Get Through Faster)

Trump initially threatened to send ICE agents to airports this weekend as a ploy to force Democrats to make a deal to restore Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which lapsed in mid-February amid a dispute over the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the deaths of two citizens who were shot and killed by federal agents. By Sunday morning, chief border official Tom Homan confirmed they'd be sending ICE agents to airports.

While the administration has neither announced nor confirmed how many airports those agents would deploy to, CNN published a list of 13 major hubs (plus a few surprises), including:

  • Atlanta (ATL)
  • Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) 
  • Cleveland (CLE) 
  • Houston-Hobby (HOU)
  • Ft. Myers (RSW) 
  • New Orleans (MSY)
  • New York City (JFK)
  • New York City-LaGuardia (LGA)
  • Newark (EWR)
  • Philadelphia (PHL)
  • Phoenix (PHX)
  • Pittsburgh (PIT)
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)

That list could change or expand over time. Exactly what ICE agents would do at airports was up for debate.

In a series of Sunday interviews, Homan suggested ICE agents would likely fill in by manning secure airport exits – freeing up more TSA agents to move to screening areas and X-ray machines. On Monday morning, acting TSA administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News that ICE agents were conducting “non-specialized security support: manning the exit lanes, crowd management, line control.”

On social media over the weekend, President Trump made it clear that the ICE agents would be doing “aggressive immigration enforcement” while they are at airports, too. 

All of this is happening during the peak of spring break travel season, too, which makes airports more chaotic even in normal times.

 

Bottom Line

The federal government said it plans to supplement TSA agents with federal ICE agents starting Monday, starting with 13 major U.S. hubs.

 

This is a developing story, check back for updates.