Democrats and other observers condemn the deployment of U.S. immigration agents at airports as dangerous and a source of tension.
Posted: March 23, 2026
Immigration agents have begun deploying to some U.S. airports as federal funding issues lead to long delays and staffing issues at airports across the country.
Reuters reported Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it has begun deploying hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to help secure airports facing serious staffing problems.
Recommended Stories
List of 3 itemsend of list
Officials told Reuters that ICE and Department of Homeland Security investigators were being deployed to more than a dozen airports across the country, including John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
CNN also reported that at least four ICE agents were seen at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, outside New York.
The deployment comes amid a surge in crowds at security checkpoints at U.S. airports due to a weeks-long budget standoff over President Donald Trump’s massive deportation push.
Some DHS funding has been cut off since Feb. 14 as Democratic lawmakers called for reform following President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
One of the DHS agencies whose funding has been cut is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency responsible for airport security screening. This means staff at the institution have been working without pay for several weeks.
Many TSA agents began making calls at work, and more than 300 employees have walked off the job since the shutdown began, according to DHS.
President Trump told reporters Monday that he has asked ICE agents stationed at U.S. airports to remove their masks. “I don’t like the airport and I believe they are willing to do that,” he said.
U.S. Border Security Director Tom Homan said Sunday that ICE agents will assist TSA officers in areas that do not require special training or expertise.
“We are there to help TSA do its work in areas that require expertise while adhering to all security guidelines and protocols,” Homan said in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union program.
“There is a role to play in releasing TSA officers from non-critical roles, such as guarding exits, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people through more quickly.”
But Democrats and other observers have raised serious concerns, saying the presence of ICE agents at airports would increase tensions.
“The last thing the American people need is untrained ICE agents stationed at airports across the country,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN on Sunday.
“We’ve already seen how ICE acts. These are individuals who are largely untrained in the performance of their current duties, let alone deploying them in closely exposed, highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.”
Even some of Trump’s own Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to the new airport security plan, with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski calling it a “bad idea.”
“What we need to do is fix the DHS problem. We need to pay the TSA agents,” Murkowski told reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where the Senate held a rare weekend session. “Do you want to add additional tension to the situation we are already facing?”
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, also criticized Trump’s plan.
“Our members at TSA show up every day without pay because they believe in our mission to keep the flying public safe,” Kelley said Sunday.
“They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
