How Will ICE Agents in Airports Help the TSA Situation?

Congressional Democrats worst nightmare may have just come true. Senate Democrats put the government into a partial shutdown on February 14, causing TSA workers to go without pay. More than 400 TSA agents have quit, while others are working twelve-hour shifts or calling in sick. Senators need to pass the SAVE America Act and pay the workers!

Reuters staff reported in an article published at The Daily Signal about the situation at certain airports. ICE agents are now in airports to help TSA agents speed up airport lines, and the union for TSA workers sees a problem. Faster lines do not help with the problem of no pay for TSA agents. 

In appearances on Sunday news shows, border czar Tom Homan and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel can help with airport security screening, starting on Monday, even though they have not been specifically trained for it.

“When we deploy tomorrow, we’ll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program.

Tens of thousands of TSA agents have been working without pay for weeks because of an impasse between Democrats and Republicans in Congress over funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE and TSA.

Trump announced on Saturday that ICE agents would be sent to airports unless Democratic lawmakers agree to fund DHS. Democrats have criticized the department’s immigration operations that have killed U.S. citizens and sparked public outrage, demanding a change in rules.

Some 10% of TSA employees have been absent from work in recent days, with the rate even higher at major airports in Atlanta, New York City and Houston, leading to lengthy lines for passengers trying to get to their gates. Hundreds of TSA agents have simply resigned, according to their labor union and TSA.

“ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!” the president, a Republican, wrote in a Sunday morning social media post.

Democratic senators caused the TSA problem but try their usual tactic of blaming Republicans. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans – other than my Senator Lisa Murkowski – insist that voters need to be US citizens to register to vote and show picture identification to vote. Seems like a reasonable demand to me.