Enhanced role for immigration officers at US airports as shutdown
frustrates travels and screeners
[March 23, 2026]
By SEUNG MIN KIM and LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's decision to order federal
immigration agents to U.S. airports to help with security during a
budget impasse is drawing concerns that their presence may escalate
tensions among air travelers frustrated over hourslong waits and
screeners angry about missed paychecks.
Trump made clear on Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to have
immigration enforcement officers assist the Transportation Security
Administration starting Monday by guarding exit lanes or checking
passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund the Department of Homeland
Security.
Democrats have been demanding major changes to federal immigration
operations, while the president issued a new threat Sunday night that he
would reject all deals with Democrats unless they agreed to a separate
elections bill.
Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers, including from the
TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since
Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month.
“Bad idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the new airport
security plan, which Trump said would start Monday.
"What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need
to get the TSA agents paid,” she told reporters at the Capitol, where
the Senate held a rare weekend session. “Do you really want to have even
additional tensions on top of what we are already facing?”
Senators advanced the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to
be Trump’s next homeland security secretary by a largely party-line
vote, 54-37, with two Democrats joining most Republicans. A vote on the
confirmation could come as early as Monday. Mullin has tried to make the
case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of
Kristi Noem, Trump’s first DHS secretary.
Border czar heads up airport security effort
White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new
airport security effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group
of senators over the partial shutdown. While he characterized those
sessions as “good conversations,” he said they were “not at a point yet
where we’re in total agreement.”
Meanwhile, Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased
role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at airports — its
specific duties and numbers — was subject to discussions with the
leadership of TSA and ICE. DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said “hundreds” of
ICE officers would be deployed, but she would not disclose the airports
where they would go, citing security reasons.
"It’s a work in progress,” Homan said. The priority, he said, was “the
large airports where there’s a long wait, like three hours.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued a statement Sunday night saying
officers from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations would be deployed
to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport starting Monday
morning.
At the airport on Sunday, some travelers waited in line for nearly six
hours at the main security checkpoint, where only two TSA agents were on
hand midafternoon to check IDs. Many missed their flights and scrambled
to book later flights or add themselves to standby lists that were
already dozens of names long.
Dickens said all federal personnel would report to TSA and be assigned
tasks such as line management and crowd control. “Federal officials have
indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration
enforcement activities,” his statement said.
Homan said immigration officers, as an example, could cover exits
currently monitored by TSA agents, freeing them to work screening lines.
Another option, he said, was having ICE agents check identification
before people enter screenings areas.
"We’re going to be a force multiplier,” Homan said, while also
acknowledging there were limits.
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People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International
Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not
trained in that,” he said. He pledged to have “a plan by the end of
today, where we’re sending -- what airports we’re starting with and
where we’re sending them.”
But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government
Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, condemned
Trump’s plan, saying in a statement that ICE agents are not trained or
certified in aviation security.
“Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck,
because they believe in the mission of keeping 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.”
Budget talks stall as airport worries worsen
Democrats have said they are willing to fund TSA and most other parts of
DHS as they press for changes to immigration operations after the deaths
of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis
during an immigration enforcement operation. ICE officers are largely
being paid during the partial shutdown, thanks to an influx of cash from
Trump’s big tax breaks bill last year.
“There are lots of ideas swirling right now,” said Senate Majority
Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “The good news in all that is people realizing
this has to get fixed, it has to get solved.”
Yet Trump threw another obstacle in the talks when he declared on Sunday
night that he did not think Republicans should reach “any deal” with
Democrats unless Congress passes a broad elections bill that includes
stricter voter registration rules and is the president's top legislative
priority.
“Put it all together, and also, let Leader Thune clearly identify those
few ‘Republicans’ that are Voting against AMERICA," Trump wrote on his
social media site. "They will never be elected again! In other words,
lump everything together as one, and VOTE!!!”
As budget talks stayed behind closed doors Sunday, senators said they
had few details of which airports or how many immigration officers were
being dispatched. Some welcomed the effort.
“I don’t think it can hurt,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. “They can
help relieve some of the pressure."
For Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, one concern is the uncertainty
that passengers are facing over possible wait times at any airport on
any given day.
“Do I have to come an hour and a half early? Do I have to come four
hours early? They don’t know until the day of or the afternoon of their
flight,” he said. “So if we can alleviate that, again, the president
wants to take away that leverage point for Democrats and make travel
easier for the American people.”
Homan appeared on CNN's “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday,”
while Duffy was interviewed on ABC's “This Week.'
___
Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
Anthony Izaguirre in Lindenhurst, N.Y., Yuki Iwamura in New York,
Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Margery Beck in
Omaha, Neb. and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this
report.
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