On March 23, the Trump administration sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to 14 major airports in the United States. This was in order to compensate for the lack of Transportation Security Administration workers. TSA agents have not been paid since February 14, due to a partial government shutdown.
Since the shutdown, many agents have quit their jobs making lines last hours and loop through airports. The responsibilities of federal immigration agents have expanded. ICE agents were seen training with TSA officers, checking travel documents and directing passengers to load their luggage onto conveyor belts.
Tom Homan says ICE agents could remain in airports even after TSA agents start getting paid. Homan said, “It depends on how many TSA agents come back to work [and] how many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan [of] coming back to work.”
However, Philadelphia International Airport is looking to remove ICE agents. Interim CEO of the airport Tracy Borda said, “The good news is, we’re at a point where we’re told that as of (Thursday), we won’t have any more ICE officers at the airport.” Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport have confirmed ICE agents are no longer on the premises.
Human rights organizations highlight the importance that while immigration agents are there to help TSA agents, they are allowed to question and arrest anyone they suspect at any part of the airport. Over 800 travelers have been arrested by ICE after TSA disclosed over 31,000 traveler records with ICE for the purpose of immigration enforcement. Both TSA and ICE are under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but only recently have they worked together for immigration related arrests. Arrestees included a college student and a woman at the San Francisco International Airport where the ICE agents refused to show their badges after being asked by witnesses.
The witness told Wired, “When [the San Francisco Police Department] arrived they surrounded the men detaining the woman and [wouldn’t] speak to anyone in the crowd asking for answers—just stared blankly ahead. SFPD all had visible badge numbers so I asked them why can I see their badge numbers and what agency they are with but not these two unidentified men. They never identified themselves and eventually police pushed the crowds away and I left to catch my flight.”
Other major airports have yet to update their status on whether or not ICE is still in their airports.