Tom Homan reveals the full scope of ICE’s role in airports as passengers suffer wait-time mayhem around US
Border Czar Tom Homan promised that ICE agents would be able to both assist at airports and continue their efforts in carrying out Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Homan spoke about what federal immigration officers’ duties would be as they arrived at airports on Monday.
‘We’re filling the holes, the wait lines have already dropped. We’re going to be at the airports and work with our brothers and sisters at TSA,’ he told Fox News, as part of Trump’s pledge to deploy them to help during a partial government shutdown.
‘We’re going to keep the airplanes flying, we’re going to get the American people through those lines quicker.’
Homan – who called Trump’s idea ‘a smart move’ – also said his agents will serve as security against people threatening national security.
‘We’re doing a security function at the airports. We’re gonna arrest criminals going through airports, we’re gonna look for human trafficking, sex trafficking, money smuggling’ he said.
Ultimately, Homan said ICE will ‘not give up President Trump’s promise to the American people to make this country safer every day and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.’
He also slammed Democrats who continue to hold out on DHS funding as ‘voting not to protect this country.’
Border Czar Tom Homan (pictured) promised that ICE agents would be able to both assist at airports and continue its efforts in carrying out Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown
Homan spoke about what federal immigration officers’ duties would be as they arrived at airports on Monday
‘We’re not gonna stop doing this job. They want ICE not to operate in sensitive locations. Here’s what I said from day one – there’s no sanctuary. There’s no safe zone for significant public safety threats and national security threats.’
Trump took the extraordinary step over the weekend of ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to provide airport security, drawing alarm from some lawmakers that it could escalate tensions.
Federal agents were seen Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International, John F. Kennedy International in New York, Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston and Louis Armstrong International outside New Orleans.
A handful of other airports – including Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International – also confirmed ICE would be on-site.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office was monitoring the deployment of federal officers at O’Hare International.
Federal law enforcement officers are a routine presence at international airports. Customs and Border Protection officers screen arriving passengers, and Homeland Security Investigations agents conduct criminal inquiries tied to cross-border activity.
But immigration agents are rarely visible at TSA checkpoints, the front line of domestic air travel.
Long wait times persisted at some major hubs Monday.
Travelers wait in long security lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston
Long wait times persisted at several major hubs Monday
Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Jackson, for example, is still urging passengers to allow at least four hours for both domestic and international screenings.
The check-in line for departing passengers was so long Monday that it snaked from the TSA screening area to the atrium, through the baggage claim and out the entrance doors with people in back of the line waiting outside.
ICE officers were patrolling the terminal area, but not seen checking IDs or otherwise interacting with passengers.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston warned passengers it could take more than four hours to get through, CNN reported.
The New York Times added that airports in both Atlanta and New York City gave up on updating their wait-time trackers.
Beyond TSA operations, many travelers on the East Coast faced additional disruptions after a Sunday night collision that killed two people and injured dozens of others on the runway of New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was temporarily shut down as air traffic was diverted.
After weeks of missed paychecks, many TSA agents have called in sick — or even quit their jobs — as financial strains pile up.
Passengers walk with luggage at Los Angeles International Airport
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents patrol Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport
The staffing shortages have forced some airports to close checkpoints at times, with wait times swinging dramatically for travelers.
TSA call-out rates climbed over the weekend. Nationwide on Sunday, 11.8% of TSA agents missed work — the highest rate of the shutdown so far — with over 3,450 officers calling out, according to DHS.
More than 400 officers have quit during the shutdown, the department said.
Some have accused the government of using TSA workers as pawns in the ongoing budget fight.
Aviation unions have raised additional safety concerns in light of the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE officers.
Late Monday, Senators discussed a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including the TSA workers going without pay, but excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations that have been core to the dispute.
The potential breakthrough came after a group of Republican senators headed to the White House late Monday to meet with President Donald Trump.
Senators said they expected the negotiators to work through the night hammering out the details and present written proposals for both parties to discuss Tuesday at their weekly caucus lunches.
Beyond TSA operations, many travelers on the East Coast faced additional disruptions after a Sunday night collision that killed two people and injured dozens of others on the runway of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. LaGuardia was temporarily shut down as air traffic was diverted
Late Monday, Senators discussed a proposal to end the Homeland Security budget stalemate by funding much of the department, including the TSA workers going without pay, but excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations that have been core to the dispute. Pictured: Majority Leader John Thune
‘All I can say is that the discussions have been very positive and productive, and hopefully headed in the right direction,’ said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters late in the evening: ‘Both sides are working in a serious way.’
The contours of the deal under consideration would fund most of Homeland Security, but exclude funding for one main part of ICE — the enforcement and removal operations that are core to Trump’s deportation agenda.
Under the package being floated, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations would be funded as well as Customs and Border Protection, but with new guardrails to position officers from those divisions in their traditional roles, rather than as they have been used more recently in immigration roundups in cities.
It would also include a number of changes in immigration operations that Democrats have demanded, including mandating that officers wear body cameras and identification.
Senators late Monday also confirmed Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security secretary.
He takes over for Kristi Noem, who led the department’s immigration enforcement operations that erupted with the public outcry and the funding standoff.
Mullin provides a potentially new face for the immigration operation.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin touched on another key demand Democrats want — ensuring a judge has signed off on warrants that immigration officers use to search people’s homes, rather than simply relying on administrative warrants issued by the department.
