Trump deploys ICE agents to US airports amid staffing issues, delays 

Immigration agents have begun deploying to some airports in the United States as a federal government funding battle has led to long delays and staffing problems at airports across the country.

The Reuters news agency reported on Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it has begun deploying hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to assist in security at airports facing significant staffing issues.

Officials told Reuters that ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers were being deployed to more than a dozen airports across the country, including New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

CNN also reported that at least four ICE agents were seen at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey outside New York.

The deployment comes as congestion has soared at US airport security screening stations due to a weeks-long budget standoff over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.

Some DHS funding has lapsed since February 14 as Democratic Party lawmakers demand reforms in the wake of Trump’s deadly immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

One of the DHS agencies whose funding has been cut is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency responsible for airport security screenings, meaning its staff have worked for weeks without pay.

Many TSA agents have begun calling out from work, and more than 300 employees have quit since the shutdown began, according to DHS.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he had requested that ICE agents deployed to US airports remove their face masks. “I don’t like it for the airport, and I believe they are willing to do that,” he said.

Tom Homan, the US border security chief, said on Sunday that ICE agents would assist TSA workers in areas that do not require special training or expertise.

“While adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols, we’re simply there to help TSA do their jobs in areas that need their specialised expertise,” Homan said in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union programme.

“There are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the nonsignificant roles, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.”

But Democrats and other observers have raised serious concerns about the presence of ICE agents at airports, saying the deployment will fuel tensions.

“The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN on Sunday.

“We’ve already seen how ICE conducts itself. These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have, for the most part – let alone deploying them in close exposure and highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.”

Even some members of Trump’s own Republican Party have expressed opposition to the new airport security plan with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski calling it a “bad idea”.

“What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved. We need to get the TSA agents paid,” Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol in Washington, DC, 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?”

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, also condemned Trump’s plan.

“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 on Sunday.

“They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”