Top Democrats claim ICE agents at airports could get passengers killed
Democrats oppose ICE airport deployment
Jonathan Fahey, former deputy secretary of DHS, discusses Democrats’ opposition to deploying ICE agents at airports and criticizes Chicago’s sanctuary city policy after an illegal Venezuelan migrant was charged with the murder of an 18-year-old.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the Trump administration’s decision to deploy ICE agents at airports would create “chaos,” implying that airline passengers could be killed by ICE agents.
Jeffries shared his reservations about ICE agents patrolling airports with CNN host Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“The last thing the American people need is untrained ICE agents deployed to airports across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some cases, kill them,” Jeffries said.
“We’ve already seen how ICE behaves,” Jeffries continued. “These are mostly individuals untrained to do their current jobs, let alone be deployed in close quarters in highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.”
MASKLESS ICE AGENTS BEGIN PATROLING US AIRPORTS; TRUMP FLEETS NATIONAL GUARD
United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat-New York) speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, November 20, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
His comments come shortly after Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan told Bash that the Trump administration would deploy federal immigration agents to airports. The move follows a shortage of TSA workers causing long security lines.
As of Monday, ICE agents were deployed to 14 airports, including New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
ICE agents arrive at JFK Airport in New York, NY, Monday, March 23, 2026. The agents are brought in to assist TSA agents amid staffing shortages due to the government shutdown. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News)
Jeffries said Republican lawmakers “would rather force TSA agents to work without pay, inconvenience millions of Americans nationwide and now potentially expose them to untrained ICE agents and create chaos at airports across the country, than control ICE agents.”
SCHUMER’S GAMBIT FAILS AS DHS SHUTDOWN REACHES 36 DAYS AND AIRPORT LINES INCREASE
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, expressed a similar sentiment in an article, alleging that people were dying because of ICE’s presence at airports.
“ICE agents at airports will only make delays and queues worse – disrupting screening, interrogating travelers, snatching parents from children, arresting citizens, brutalizing families, shooting and even killing,” Blumenthal wrote.
ICE agents arrive at JFK Airport in New York, NY, Monday, March 23, 2026. The agents are brought in to assist TSA agents amid staffing shortages due to the government shutdown. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News)
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“Brutal and lawless tactics common in communities across the country by masked and unidentified agents, violating basic rights – no way to help TSA or travelers,” Blumenthal continued.
The comments came after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor that Trump’s plan to deploy ICE agents was “stirring up trouble.”
