Amid America’s second government shutdown in 2026, starting on Feb. 14, ICE agents have been deployed to airports across the country to aid TSA workers.
In late March, hundreds of ICE agents were deployed to a handful of airports across the country to assist TSA workers. On account of President Trump’s controversial Big Beautiful Bill, ICE agents’ pay is not affected during this shutdown, making it easy for agents to fill in where needed. The burning question among Americans is: Do ICE agents belong in our airports?
Due to the current Department of Homeland Security shutdown, many TSA workers have been working without pay. This cutback has led to around 500 TSA workers resigning from their jobs, as well as a record-high callout rate of 11.38%.
As a result of having to work for no pay for over a month, many TSA workers prioritized staying home to save money on gas and childcare. With wait times reaching heights of five hours, it became obvious that something had to change.
In late March, hundreds of ICE agents were deployed to a handful of airports across the country to assist TSA workers. On account of President Trump’s controversial Big Beautiful Bill, ICE agents’ pay is not affected during this shutdown, making it easy for agents to fill in where needed.
Due to their lack of training, ICE agents have been performing basic tasks such as checking IDs and monitoring entrances and exits, as well as operating the credential authentication machine. In principle, this allows TSA agents to focus their efforts on the more demanding tasks, allowing things to run smoothly. However, this new protocol has become a topic of debate among Americans.
ICE has been an extremely controversial topic as of late, with a recent YouGov poll revealing that 50% of Americans support the abolition of ICE. Consequently, deploying ICE agents to airports has garnered a similar reaction.
Critics of this new development believe that ICE’s presence in airports can put innocent civilians and their personal information at risk. TSA has already shared the information of at least 31,000 people that they deem suspicious, resulting in 800 arrests so far.
Due to ICE’s already questionable track record, specifically following the death of Renee Good in Jan., in a recent letter to Markwayne Mullin, the current Secretary of Homeland Security, Democrats have argued that the presence of ICE in airports can cause “confusion and fear.”
In addition, many people believe that ICE agents don’t have enough training to adequately complete the job that they have been assigned. Usually, the training and hiring process to become a TSA can take anywhere from a few months to over a year. In order to become a TSA agent, one must pass the TSA Computer-Based Test (TSA CBT). The TSA CBT has a 30% pass rate, making training and preparation a necessity.
Despite these issues, the assistance of ICE agents has greatly improved the shockingly long airport lines. Wait times in airports have dramatically decreased since the introduction of ICE, with some airports having waits as low as a few minutes.
Another factor that has contributed to the decrease in wait times has been TSA workers receiving pay again. After working for over a month without pay, TSA agents received their first paycheck on March 30.
As airports across the country return to a state of normalcy, ICE agents have begun leaving their assigned checkpoints as of Apr. 9. Airports, such as the Philadelphia International Airport, are expecting to have ICE agents completely gone by this upcoming Thursday.
