President Donald Trump has deployed ICE to help TSA at airports across the country—but some agents seem to be twiddling their thumbs rather than speeding up the screening process.
Trump sent hundreds of ICE agents to 14 major airports on Monday, including those in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, and New York, as travelers face crippling delays due to the partial government shutdown.
While the 79-year-old president boasted that “brilliant and patriotic” ICE agents would “do Security like no one has ever seen before,” photos show agents looking more like extras than enforcement.
Agents were photographed wandering around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s baggage claim with coffee cups and orange juice in their hand. At Newark Airport, agents were captured standing in a circle, with one wearing earphones, while another chugged from a can.
Meanwhile, agents at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport were photographed standing in line for Starbucks by the Daily Wire’s immigration reporter Jennie Taer.
At New York’s JFK Airport, a photographer captured a lengthy security line as ICE agents walked by, one busy on his phone.
A second photo from JFK shows around a dozen ICE agents huddled near an automated check-in portal with other law enforcement officers.
Trump’s last-minute proclamation to deploy the immigration agency at airports caught ICE officials flat-footed, CBS News reported, citing several sources who spoke with the outlet on condition of anonymity.
“I have no idea what we’re doing‚” one DHS official told CBS News when asked about the president’s decision.
A former senior ICE official told the outlet that federal immigration agents were likely not trained to perform the technical tasks involved in airport security, such as operating screening machines.
Democrats have blasted Trump’s decision to deploy ICE at airports, which he first threatened over the weekend in an attempt to pressure Democratic lawmakers to compromise on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey—where ICE agents have descended on Newark Airport—said all the agents are doing is “roaming around.”
“They have brought this reckless and out-of-control ICE into our airports, and have even told the American people what they’re specifically doing, and all we see them doing today is roaming around,” Booker said at a news conference at the airport.
Fliers appear to be unimpressed by ICE’s presence at the airports. At Newark, one passenger told CNN he couldn’t believe ICE agents were there fully paid, while unpaid TSA officers do the work of screening fliers.
Taer wrote on X that she saw “Lots of folks, including airport workers, shaking their heads or sharing their disdain for ICE under their breaths as they watched federal immigration agents walking by.”
About 50,000 TSA employees have been working without pay for weeks. Democrats in Congress have refused to fund the DHS unless Republicans agree on a set of reforms to ICE, including a ban on masks for ICE agents, stricter warrant requirements for public arrests, and ending roaming patrols.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of sabotaging negotiations by refusing to make a deal on DHS without Democratic support for his “SAVE America Act” voter ID bill—a demand Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, called “unrealistic” on Monday.
When reached for comment, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast in a statement, “The men and women of ICE are always prepared to help keep our country safe, especially in the midst of the Democrat-created chaos at airports around the country. Americans are missing flights and hardworking TSA employees are missing paychecks — with over 400 TSA employees outright quitting. Democrats could stop this all today by funding the Department.”
DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis told the Daily Beast:
“This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent. While the Democrats continue to put the safety, dependability, and ease of our air travel at risk, President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted.
“Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country—especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families. This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.”
