Prepare for civilian deaths at America’s airports. No, Iran isn’t sending shoe bombers to Joe Foss Field; Trump is sending his radicalized Immigration and Customs Enforcers to fill in for unpaid TSA agents:
President Trump said he is sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports as some air travelers face longer security lines due to the partial government shutdown.
…Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis… said the agency will deploy “hundreds” of ICE officers “to airports being adversely impacted.”
DHS did not respond to NPR’s question of where ICE agents will be deployed.
But Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Sunday evening that agents would be at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to help with “line management and crowd control.” In a statement, he said federal agents “indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities” [Luke Garrett, “ICE Officers Set to Deploy to Airports as Delays Mount, Border Czar Homan Confirms,” NPR, 2026.03.22].
ICE won’t make airports any safer than they made Minneapolis, since, once again, Trump’s impulsively deployed goons aren’t trained for the actual duties that serve as pretexts for their fascist posturing:
Several current and former TSA officials told Government Executive that ICE personnel will be limited in what they can accomplish at airports, as they will not have the requisite training to check identification, examine luggage x-rays or provide other key security services. TSA employees go through classroom and on-the-job training before they can staff those roles, the officials said.
“It serves no practical use,” said one former official with decades of federal experience who declined to be named out of fear of professional reprisal. “It’s a political, publicity action, not a practical solution.”
…Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA staff, said those workers spend months learning specific skills that enable them to detect explosives, weapons and individuals looking to evade security. They are recertified on an ongoing basis after receiving extensive instruction and seeking to replace them with ICE personnel would only exacerbate the problem.
“You cannot improvise that,” Kelley said. “Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one.”
…“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. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be” [Eric Katz, “‘No Practical User’: TSA Experts Say Trump’s ICE Deployments Won’t Help with Airport Security,” Government Executive, 2026.03.22].
Remember, travelers: if you try to take any photos in the airport, ICE will probably tackle and detain you for obstructing law enforcement. So be good at the airport. Be Pretti Good.