Trump Deploys ICE to Airports on Monday to Ease Endless, Hours Long TSA Lines

4D Chess? Trump just flipped the board.

Democrats freeze DHS funding, Americans pay the price—hours-long lines, unpaid TSA agents, airport chaos. Democrats hate you.

Trump responds by deploying ICE, keeping the system moving while exposing the political sabotage behind it.

President Trump has just announced that ICE will be deployed to airports on Monday to assist TSA with security amid the Democrat shutdown, stating they will arrest any illegals found during operations, with a “heavy emphasis on those from Somalia.”

Democrats hate you. https://t.co/xZDYEOTW1t

— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) March 22, 2026

Democrats hate you. https://t.co/QEGTj6U1X6

— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) March 22, 2026

HOLY CRAP! It’s really happening, ICE agents will surge into at least 14 AIRPORTS tomorrow at President Trump and Tom Homan’s orders

This comes as Chuck Schumer and Democrats withhold paychecks from TSA, prompting 3-4+ HOUR lines

Travelers and TSA are about to rejoice! pic.twitter.com/WJTkvbKwAR

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 22, 2026

Trump deploying ICE to airports on Monday to ease crowded TSA lines — as NYC travelers face security line hell

By Victor Nava, NY Post, March 22, 2026:

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ICE officers will be deployed to airports to help clear the horrendous security lines for the TSA, which ran out of funding more than a month ago because of a Democrat shutdown, President Trump announced Sunday.

The move is meant to speed up security lines, which have stretched up to three hours at some airports as TSA agents walk off the job or call out sick because they haven’t been paid in weeks.

“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.The president predicted his decision to send the federal immigration agents to airports nationwide would be met with criticism from the left.

“But watch, no matter how great a job ICE does, the Lunatics leading the incompetent Dems will be highly critical of their work,” Trump said, asserting, “THEY WILL DO A FANTASTIC JOB.”

Homan said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that he doesn’t envision ICE agents doing the jobs of TSA screeners, but rather handling other aspects of airport security.

President Trump speaks at a podium.
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The president predicted his decision to send the federal immigration agents to airports nationwide would be met with criticism from the left.
Getty Images
“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine – because you’re not trained in that – [but] there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines,” he explained.

“We’ll put together a plan today, and we’ll execute tomorrow,” Homan said.

The border czar indicated discussions are ongoing about how many ICE agents will be deployed to airports.

Two masked federal agents wearing ICE jackets stand in a hallway.
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Deploying ICE agents to the airports is meant to speed up security lines, according to reports.
AFP via Getty Images
“We’re going to do what we can to help TSA move people through the line,” he added.

Travelers have been facing security line hell this past weekend, with wait times on Sunday hitting nearly three hours at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, two hours at Houston’s George Bush International Airport, and more than an hour at JFK in New York.

Even before dawn, the TSA precheck line at JFK appeared to be at a standstill and stretched longer than the regular security checkpoint line.

In New Jersey, wait times at Newark Liberty International Airport ranged from 5 minutes to longer than 30 minutes in some terminals.

At Philadelphia International Airport, the 6 a.m. security lines were backed up to the Marriott hotel on the premises.

“I have never seen a line this long in Philly,” Reuters reporter Jarrett Renshaw wrote on X.

Widespread TSA absenteeism amid a partial government shutdown prompted Trump to start mobilizing ICE agents for use at airports on Saturday, as he called on Democrats to end the stonewalling that has cut off funding and paychecks for TSA screeners.

Roughly 50,000 TSA agents have been working without pay amid the shutdown, which is entering its 36th day.

“I think you’re going to see more TSA agents, as we come to Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week, they’re going to quit or they’re not going to show up,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” noting that TSA workers are set to miss paychecks on Friday.

“So I do think it’s going to get much worse,” Duffy said of the situation at airports.

ICE, unlike TSA, was funded through last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) slammed the plan.

“It’s unfortunate that Republicans have decided that they would rather force TSA agents to work without pay, inconvenience millions of Americans all across the country and now potentially expose them to untrained ICE agents and create chaos at airports throughout the land, rather than get ICE agents under control,” Jeffries argued.

Democrats have demanded that the Department of Homeland Security implement several immigration enforcement reforms as a condition for federal funding.

The White House last week signaled it would support expanding the use of body-worn cameras for ICE agents; limiting immigration enforcement operations around certain locations, like schools and hospitals; increasing oversight of ICE detention facilities; and requiring officers to wear ID badges.

Democrats, however, appear to be holding out for more, including a ban on agents wearing masks and face coverings and requiring ICE to obtain judicial warrants before entering private property.