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.
Recall that in 1997 South Dakota got $23 million for going without Amtrak service so then-Gov. Bill Janklow funneled much of that money into the Governor’s Club and in 2007 Republican Gov. Mike Rounds spent some of it on an airplane for his personal use.
My proposal for passenger rail from Minneapolis to Denver is a multi-modal route from the Twin Cities to Mankato on the right of way owned by the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad to Brookings, South Dakota and Pierre then to Rapid City and to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks at Alliance via Chadron, Nebraska then to Cheyenne and Denver. Service to Sioux Falls and Omaha could diverge at Florence, Minnesota.
A route in the I-90 median between Sioux Falls and Rapid City should also be explored.
A railway system from Brookings to Rapid! Build back the old hotel in Highmore. Kent and I used to play White Rabbit in its rooms when we were 10 feet tall.
You know, there’s been no problem with the long lines. Everyone is doing what they need to do. ICE is perfect for a needless duty. Will they get another 50,000 bonus for making everyone who’s safe, less safe?
Airplanes are crashing into firetrucks at US airports now. Foreign airlines Beware! DO NOT COME HERE. NOT SAFE.
Every Republican needs to be voted out of office for allowing this Trump Administration and Congress to create a nation of chaos and wreak havoc around the world.
Democrats aren’t all that innocent either and many support the illegal war of choice against Iran, so get rid of them too.
We could also find out who selling those way, way, overpriced warehouses to turn into prisons. When I sell my house I would like to use them to sell my property. Do you think Kristi would tell me?
Mark Anderson, I like your passenger rail idea. When I was young, our family took the train to Aberdeen to shop before Christmas. We had a J C Penney in our small town, but Aberdeen’s store had a basement, 2 stories, and an escalator. It was a child’s playground. We also took the train to Minneapolis for a funeral.
I think the last passenger train that ran from here was in 1972. We sure could use one now. 8% of the U.S. population lives 20 miles or more from a Walmart. We are one of those 8%. Although we have a hospital and school, we have no care center. Many of us would love to attend doctor appt in Aberdeen, 202 mile trip, by train, especially in winter.
We are so isolated.
Not to worry! Our fine SD delegation in the senate just voted to put Markwayne in charge. He has a plumbers license and was a cage fighter. He’ll get things straightened out… maybe… hopefully… Or, don’t hold your breath.
The trouble with trains is getting to and from the station. Just like air travel, You need a ride, or a place to park, or you have to rent a car to get to your final destination. The complexity isn’t worth it, especially with a train which makes so many stops you can get there faster by driving your own car.
And unlike airports, which have allowed only ticketed passengers past the TSA checkpoints, there is no such sanctuary for rail passengers. Panhandlers can stay in the terminals as long as they want, pestering passengers waiting for trains. It’s even worse than the airport terminals were before TSA, when Hare Krishnas were all over the airports driving everybody crazy and the airports posted signs saying they had a Constitutional right to be there so don’t bother complaining to the port authority.
People who remember rail travel fondly have probably not experienced it recently. The childhood memories are likely more fantasy than reality.
It was a few years ago that my son suggested I take the train from BOS to his town on the South Shore.
I waited for the bus to take me to South station, and if you have never been there, the ground transportation area is NOT PLEASANT, Kind of a wind tunnel full of diesel fumes. Even a 20 minute wait is too long.
I was lugging a rollerbag, the bus went underground to discharge passengers into another wind tunnel full of diesel fumes. I dragged the rollerbag up the flight of stairs to the train platform. My luggage alerted the panhandlers that I was a tourist so they started following me around, asking for money. I had to wait for over an hour for my train so I decided to get something to eat. The vendors were selling edible food, but my purchase attracted more attention, people hoping I would hand them spare change or leftovers. The dim & flickering fluorescent lights which needed to be replaced really added to the ambience.
I don’t remember when I’ve ever had so much fun. I told my son I would not do that again.
The New Mexico Rail Runner goes through several pueblos and is well-supported with stops in each community so it has brought at least access to prosperity in an historically poor state.
Passenger rail could return to Colorado’s Yampa Valley as that state’s Department of Transportation partners with the Front Range Passenger Rail District on planning service from Pueblo, through Denver, to Fort Collins and ultimately to Wyoming and New Mexico.
Look on the bright side, South Dakota. It wasn’t in President Biden’s rail plan but if someday Amtrak connects the Southwest Chief at Pueblo or Trinidad, Colorado to the Empire Builder at Shelby, Montana through Denver and Cheyenne there might be a depot at Edgemont.
Mrs. Beal certainly loves her white privilege, innit?
Enna, Lar. grudznick is not bothered so much by the freaks due to my similar visage.