Trump Threatens ICE Deployment at Airports Amid Funding Standoff

Sat Mar 21 2026 22:43:26 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

President Trump has promised to send ICE agents to airports for security unless Congressional funding is restored for the Department of Homeland Security, which has been stalled since mid-February.

In a stark move reflecting the ongoing funding impasse, President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to manage airport security. This ultimatum comes as the Department of Homeland Security remains unfunded since mid-February due to a failure to agree on budgetary terms in Congress. With TSA agents working without pay and reports of increased absences and resignations, the situation at airports has aggravated. Trump insists that immediate action will be taken if lawmakers do not authorize appropriate security measures, while Democrats have called for reforms in ICE amidst rising tensions.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to send agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide security at airports unless a deal is reached to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

The DHS has gone without funding since mid-February, after Congress failed to reach a funding agreement - leaving normal airport security without pay.

A bill that would fund DHS and provide payments for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at airports failed to advance in the Senate on Friday.

The Trump administration has blamed the delay on Democrats, who have declined to pass funding without reforms to ICE, which operates under DHS.

The hold-up has meant thousands of TSA staff have been working without pay for over a month.

More than 300 TSA employees have reportedly quit in that time, while unscheduled absences have more than doubled.

Long lines have formed at airports, with reports of officers taking on second jobs and some airports collecting gift cards and food parcels for TSA staff.

Numerous employees have reported to me that their bank accounts are at zero or negative, Johnny Jones, a Dallas-based official in the government workers' union AFGE, told USA Today.

ICE has played a key role in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, making thousands of arrests since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. Its tactics have faced heavy criticism from Democrats, civil liberties groups, and NGOs.

Trump stated that the deployment of ICE agents would begin on Monday if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country.

ICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security.

Despite operating under DHS, ICE has not been significantly affected by the current funding issues because Congress has already provided funding for that agency separately.

Democrats have been demanding reforms to ICE following incidents involving federal agents, and have proposed measures to restrict operations and enhance officer identification.