With federal immigration agents being deployed at several busy airports, including Chicago’s O’Hare, what exactly can they do?
As U.S. airports remain jammed with long lines due to short staffing at TSA, President Donald Trump ordered ICE officers to provide airport security, alarming some lawmakers.
In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson ICE personnel will be limited in their duties.
“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 said in a statement.
White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new airport security effort, said 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, but noted agents are intended to be a “force multiplier.”
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.
“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” he said.
Still, federal officers wearing green tactical vests were seen working alongside TSA agents Tuesday behind a security checkpoint at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
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The two federal officers stood with TSA agents at an X-ray machine used to scan baggage at one of the airport’s five terminals. One officer’s vest identified him as ICE personnel. The second had a vest patch that read: “federal agent.”
An Associated Press photographer at the airport also saw five agents in black vests designating them as Homeland Security officers walking through a different terminal and getting into a vehicle parked outside.
Security lines appeared to be moving normally at O’Hare, with no obvious signs of delays.
“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.
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.
Why are TSA agents not being paid?
Routine funding for the Department of Homeland Security has lapsed since Feb. 14, leading to long waits at U.S. airports as TSA agents call out rather than work without pay.
Democrats are demanding that the Trump administration make changes in immigration enforcement operations following the deaths of two U.S. citizens during protests this year in Minneapolis. Trump has refused the latest proposal, and talks have stalled.
Senators are discussing a proposal to end the budget stalemate by funding much of DHS, including the TSA workers going without pay, but excluding ICE’s enforcement and removal operations that have been core to the dispute.
Since so much of ICE is already funded through Trump’s big tax breaks bill, and immigration officers are still receiving paychecks during the partial government shutdown, senators said the new restraints would also be imposed on operations that rely on that funding source, as well.
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