Mar 22, 2026, 3:02 p.mMarch 22, 2026, 3:35 p.m
In view of the dispute over continued funding for the US Department of Homeland Security, President Donald Trump wants to use the controversial immigration agency ICE at airports. “On Monday, ICE will be at airports to support our great TSA officers,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. The controversial border protection commander Tom Homan should be responsible for the operation.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for the security screening of passengers at airports and, like ICE, reports to the Department of Homeland Security. The civil protection agency Fema and the Coast Guard also belong to the ministry. Trump appointed Homan to oversee his deportation policy last year. Even before Trump took office, Homan had promised that actions that would cause “shock and awe” could be expected in the first days of the Trump presidency.
Long queues at airports
There has been a traffic jam at the country’s airports for days: passengers in Atlanta and Houston, for example, waited for hours for a TSA check on Sunday and missed their flights despite enough buffer time. Because of the budget blockade that has been ongoing since mid-February, civil servants are currently not being paid, and many have called in sick as a result. Democrats and Republicans have been blaming each other ever since.
Long queues at the airports, for example here in Atlanta.Image: keystone
Trump had already vaguely announced the deployment on Saturday (local time). The officials are supposed to take care of security at the airports, “better than ever before”. “GET READY,” he wrote in quotation marks. Trump wants to refrain from sending him if the Democrats give in and sign an agreement.
This probably refers to the budget for the Department of Homeland Security: several votes on a new financial package failed to achieve the necessary majority, meaning there is no basis for paying some emergency services such as the TSA.
Tasks and locations unclear
It remains unclear what exactly the ICE officers are supposed to do at the airports. When deployed at security checkpoints, the question remains whether the officers can actually operate the body and baggage scanners and clearly identify dangerous objects. It also initially remained unclear whether the forces should be deployed at all US airports or only at those with particularly long queues or chaotic conditions.
At US airports, the border protection agency Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is primarily responsible for immigration control, while the security screening of passengers is the responsibility of the TSA. So far, ICE officers have been used primarily in the interior of the country to deport migrants without residence permits and have made negative headlines due to their rigorous approach to their raids. At the beginning of the year, two Americans died when ICE forces shot at them.
In the debate about the proportionality of how the ICE officers acted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kristi Noem also found herself in trouble. Trump fired the Secretary of Homeland Security at the beginning of the month – also because a multi-million dollar advertising campaign and an alleged love affair with one of her closest advisors were her downfall. The current Senator Markwayne Mullin, who is said to have a more moderate leadership style, will now take their place. (sda/dpa)