Plans to send ICE to assist airport security staff being finalized, Homan says, as shutdown drags on
Border czar Tom Homan said President Trump is tired of Americans being “held hostage” at airports during the partial government shutdown — and that he is considering deploying ICE agents to help relieve overwhelmed TSA agents.
“He called me this morning and he’s tired of waiting: Americans held hostage at the airport, TSA not paid, FEMA, all these people, federal employees, working for free,” Mr. Homan said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Mr. Trump announced the plan Saturday on Truth Social, saying that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would begin helping Transportation Security Administration workers at airports on Monday.
Mr Homan said plans were being finalized. He said ICE agents would perform tasks that do not require specialized TSA training. He said they could secure exit lanes and check IDs before travelers reach the screening area, allowing TSA officers to focus on X-ray screening and other work requiring expertise.
“We’re going to be a force multiplier,” Mr. Homan said, pushing back against suggestions that ICE agents are unqualified for airport security work. “We’re not going to do that. We’re going to leave TSA and augment TSA, where we are trained in security.”
“I hope this will move the lines faster,” he said. “But the president has made it clear that he will no longer let America be held hostage.”
SEE ALSO: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Slams ICE Airport Deployment, Warns of ‘Untrained’ Agents
Senate Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats demanding reforms to immigration and customs enforcement.
Mr. Homan, who joined the White House-led negotiations, said the two sides had not reached an agreement.
“This administration has not shut down the government,” Mr. Homan said. “It was the Democratic Party that shut it down.”
He said the president was running out of patience.
“The president has made it clear that we are not going to wait,” he said. “It’s going to pivot from there, and we’re going to send ICE agents to the airports to help mitigate” the crisis.
