WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports on Monday if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety.
“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday, more than a month into a partial government shutdown.
Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full paycheck on Friday as a result of the shutdown as lawmakers clash over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for TSA and ICE.
ICE CENTRAL TO TRUMP IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN
ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security, the domain of TSA, which has 65,000 employees, including 50,000 airport security officers. ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, drawing criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
TSA officers have called in sick and the shortage of security agents has disrupted travel at major airports. Over 10% of TSA officers called in sick on more than half of the past seven days, DHS said in a statement on Saturday.
More than 400 TSA workers have quit since the partial shutdown began on February 14, DHS said, adding that resignations and call-outs are expected to “significantly increase” as the shutdown drags on.
Trump posted that the ICE deployment would begin on Monday “if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, criticized Trump’s proposal as “another reckless, lawless threat to misuse ICE agents.”
“He seems to have no concept of what the limits are on ICE, and I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they’ve been breaking down doors at homes,” Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of Representatives, said in a statement that Trump was “manufacturing chaos at airports for political leverage” and that putting ICE agents in travel checkpoints would bring a “tool of fascism” to America.
“Donald Trump needs to stand down his secret police, agree to reasonable ICE reforms, and let us pay TSA workers,” the Mississippi lawmaker said.
DEMOCRATS SEEK TSA CHANGES
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, on Saturday offered to cover TSA paychecks “during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country.” DHS, TSA and Musk representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Homeland Security historically has shifted resources across agencies during emergency staffing shortages, said Stewart Baker, who was a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Keeping TSA going without paying staff creates “serious trouble” for the agency, Baker said.
Using ICE agents for airport security “may be slower than using trained people, but it would be better than having nobody,” he added.
ICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, has deployed agents over the past few months to multiple areas as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown, most recently to Minnesota in an operation that resulted in agents fatally shooting American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Their deaths sparked a backlash and led the Trump administration to adopt a more targeted approach in Minnesota.
Trump this month fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing criticism of the administration’s immigration tactics. The U.S. Senate is considering the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, as the next DHS secretary.
Trump has said his immigration policies are intended to curb illegal immigration and improve national security. A DHS funding bill has been held up in Congress as Democrats demand TSA changes that Republicans have resisted.
Democrats have said TSA reforms are needed, including a prohibition on agents wearing masks. Republicans have said that would endanger agents.
Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union said TSA had provided lists of airport travelers to ICE, calling the move a break from TSA’s prior practices.
(Reporting by Jason Lange, Mike Scarcella, Nolan McCaskill and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Rod Nickel, Sergio Non, Nia Williams and William Mallard)
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