Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers began assisting at airport security checkpoints on March 23, 2026, as a partial US government shutdown continued to strain Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing and push wait times higher at several major US airports.
The move follows a weekend order from President Donald Trump directing ICE personnel to report to airports to help support TSA operations as the funding lapse entered its sixth week.
The deployment affects more than a dozen airports, including Atlanta, John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark, Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans. ICE officers were assigned to limited checkpoint-support roles such as guarding exit lanes, helping manage crowds and, in some locations, checking passenger identification before travelers enter the main screening area.
Current reporting indicates ICE officers are not replacing TSA screeners in their core screening function. The agents do not have the security clearances required to work beyond the checkpoint, limiting the role they can fulfill.
The change comes as TSA absenteeism has climbed sharply during the shutdown. Reuters reported that TSA absences reached 11.5%, the highest level since the funding lapse began, while some airports have seen more than a third of screeners call out.
More than 400 TSA employees have resigned since the shutdown started, further tightening staffing as spring travel demand builds. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, travelers have been advised to arrive as much as four hours early because of long checkpoint lines.
Trump said the agents would help at airports and also suggested they could arrest undocumented immigrants, but local officials and current reporting have indicated the airport mission is not intended as an immigration enforcement sweep.
The disconnect between the administration’s public messaging and the limited support role ICE officers are playing at airports has drawn criticism from labor unions and Democrats, who say the White House should focus instead on restoring pay for TSA workers. The shutdown fight centers on funding for ICE within the Department of Homeland Security, the same department that oversees TSA, even as ICE agents have continued to receive pay during the impasse.
