Spring break travelers passing through Chicago’s busy O’Hare International Airport can expect to see Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officers on airport grounds after President Donald Trump said he’d deploy the agents assist Transportation Security Administration officers as a partial government shutdown continues.
The deployment comes as travel for spring break, “historically one of the busiest times of the year,” continues at Chicago airports, with millions of people expected to travel. It also comes amid reports of hours-long security lines at U.S. airports amid increased callouts from TSA agents, who are working unpaid.
A statement from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said O’Hare Airport was expected to see an estimated 75 officers over numerous shifts starting Monday. Midway Airport was not expected to see such deployments.
“We will closely monitor the deployment and use every tool we have to ensure that people, no matter their immigration status, can travel to and from Chicago safely and without harassment from the federal government,” Johnson said in a statement.
According to a list obtained by NBC News, federal immigration officers were also being deployed starting Monday at airports in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Phoenix, Fort Myers and more.
Monday morning, video captured from O’Hare showed least two officers wearing gear labeling them as “ICE” were seen in O’Hare’s Terminal 3 Monday morning. Meanwhile, two Homeland Security Investigations officers were seen near a baggage claim exit in Terminal 1.
Why are ICE agents at airports, and what will they be doing?
Federal agents are a routine presence at international airports, where Customs and Border Protection officers screen arriving travelers and Homeland Security Investigations agents handle criminal cases tied to smuggling, trafficking and fraud.
What’s unusual in the current moment is their visibility at TSA security checkpoints, a role typically handled by transportation security officers rather than federal investigators.
“According to DHS, ICE personnel deployed at O’Hare are expected to perform non-screening support functions, including monitoring exit lanes, making routine passenger announcements (such as reminding travelers to remove liquids from their bags), assisting with queue management, and related activities intended to allow TSA officers to remain focused on passenger and baggage screening,” Johnson’s statement read.
Trump on Monday also directed ICE officers not to wear face coverings in their work at airports.
In a social media posted, the president said he supports ICE officers wearing masks when dealing with “hardened criminals” but suggested it isn’t necessary when assisting with the “MESS at the airports.”
Trump made clear on Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to have immigration enforcement officers assist the TSA by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund DHS. Democrats are demanding major changes to federal immigration operations and showing no sign of backing down.
The decision sparked concerns over whether their presence could escalate tensions among air travelers frustrated over hours-long waits and screeners angry about missed paychecks.
“Bad idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the new airport security plan.
“What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need to get the TSA agents paid,” she told reporters at the Capitol, 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?”
Why is the government shutdown?
Monday’s deployments of ICE agents came as hundreds of thousands of Homeland Security workers, including from the TSA, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month. That’s led many TSA agents to call in sick — or even quit their jobs — as financial strains pile up. The staffing shortages have forced some airports to close checkpoints at times, with wait times swinging dramatically for travelers.
TSA callout rates climbed over the weekend. Nationwide on Sunday, 11.8% of TSA agents missed work — the highest rate of the shutdown so far — with more than 3,450 officers calling out, according to DHS. More than 400 officers have quit during the shutdown, the department said.
The Trump administration announced over the weekend that it would be deploying federal immigration officers at TSA checkpoints, unless Democrats agreed to fund the DHS. Funding for the department lapsed Feb. 14, as Democrats refused to fund ICE as well as Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations in the wake of the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Senators advanced the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to be Trump’s next homeland security secretary by a largely party-line vote, 54-37, with two Democrats joining most Republicans. A vote on the confirmation could come as early as Monday. Mullin has tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump’s first DHS secretary.
White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new airport security effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group of senators over the partial shutdown. While he characterized those sessions as “good conversations,” he said they were “not at a point yet where we’re in total agreement.”
Meanwhile, Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at airports — its specific duties and numbers — was subject to discussions with the leadership of TSA and ICE. DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said “hundreds” of ICE officers would be deployed, but she would not disclose the airports where they would go, citing security reasons.
“It’s a work in progress,” Homan said. The priority, he said, was “the large airports where there’s a long wait, like three hours.”
Homan said immigration officers, as an example, could cover exits currently monitored by TSA agents, freeing them to work screening lines. Another option, he said, was having ICE agents check identification before people enter screenings areas.
“We’re going to be a force multiplier,” Homan said, while also acknowledging there were limits.
“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” he said. He pledged to have “a plan by the end of today, where we’re sending — what airports we’re starting with and where we’re sending them.”
But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, condemned Trump’s plan, saying in a statement that ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security.
“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 Sunday. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
In a statement, a coalition of unions representing aviation workers — including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — said the “ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans.”
Transportation security officers “can’t simply be replaced” by federal immigration officers, they noted, adding that ICE’s presence and potential attempts to question passengers about immigration status may also “distract them from ensuring airport security.”
The unions called for TSA workers to be paid immediately — noting that, in contrast, ICE officers are among DHS workers who have continued to see paychecks as the partial shutdown drags on.
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Hence then, the article about why is ice at airports and what will they do what we know as dozens of agents deployed at o hare was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Why is ICE at airports, and what will they do? What we know as dozens of agents deployed at O'Hare )
Also on site :