--- description: The decision follows days of long lines at airports and comes as TSA workers approach their second month without a paycheck. title: Trump Sends ICE Agents to Airports Amid Funding Impasse image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd19f2944195b13e6/69bed0deb831efb71dd0b7a3/GettyImages-2267033990.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Transportation](/tag/transportation/) ## Transportation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Trump Says ICE Agents Will Deploy to Airports Amid Funding Impasse  by [Rebecca Schneid](/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 21, 2026 5:05 PM CUT  Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, March 20, 2026\. Travelers have encountered long lines snaking through terminals during the partial government shutdown, prompting airports to warn passengers to show up hours before their flight. Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, March 20, 2026\. Travelers have encountered long lines snaking through terminals during the partial government shutdown, prompting airports to warn passengers to show up hours before their flight.Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 21, 2026 5:05 PM CUT President Donald Trump said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would deploy to airports to assist with security amid a [standoff with Democrats](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/ "undefined") over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The announcement followed days of long lines at several major airports as the [Transportation Security Administration (TSA](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/ "undefined")), an agency within DHS that operates airport security checkpoints, has been hit by a wave of resignations and staffing issues amid the funding crunch, and as spring break travel gears up. "On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all," Trump [wrote](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116272713025328785 "undefined") on Truth Social on Sunday. **Read More**:[ _Inside the Shutdown Stalemate Crippling the TSA and Airports_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/air-travel-flight-delays-dhs-shutdown-global-entry-tsa/ "undefined") Trump had threatened the move on Saturday in a post on Truth Social, saying the security would include “the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota.” ICE agents are not trained for airport security, and the agency’s actions as it has been deployed across the country during the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown are at the center of the battle in Congress over funding to DHS. Democrats have held up some DHS funding in an effort to place new restrictions on the agency’s actions following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and [Renee Good](https://time.com/7345319/ice-shootings-renee-good/ "undefined") in Minneapolis earlier this year. The DHS did not respond to a request for comment from TIME. In a post on X, it blamed Democrats: “The Democrats’ political games are forcing our TSA officers to work without pay for the THIRD time in six months — forcing many to leave the force, including 35 in New England.” ## **Long wait times** Departure halls at airports across the United States were filled with snaking lines of people [waiting](https://time.com/article/2026/03/11/air-travel-flight-delays-dhs-shutdown-global-entry-tsa/ "undefined") for hours to pass through security checkpoints on Friday and into Saturday, as the funding impasse showed no signs of being resolved. By early Saturday, the strain was already visible at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where travelers could be waiting up to 150 minutes, [according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/us/airport-tsa-wait-time-live-updates-vis "undefined"). At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International—the world’s busiest airport— security wait times stretched to over two hours Saturday morning, and at airports like LaGuardia in New York and Miami International, lines reached around 35 to 45 minutes. Some airports have been [spared](https://x.com/DebbieforFL/status/2034380694076412020?s=20 "undefined") the long waits, but the unpredictable nature of the delays has left travelers unsure about how to best predict wait times and their arrival at the airport. And, travel officials predict that lines could get even worse as the shutdown drags on and TSA agents continue to bear the impact. "As we get into next week and they're about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child's play, what's happening right now," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on CNBC Thursday. On Saturday, Duffy told [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6391330497112 "undefined") that spring break travel only exacerbates the delays as families with children wait in the long lines. “It’s hard enough for you to stand in a two or three-hour line…but you're traveling with a family with kids, and you have to spend that much time? I just wish they would stop using the American people as leverage.” Duffy and TSA’s acting administrator, Adam Stahl, have also [said](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/ "undefined") that small airports may be forced to close, at least temporarily, if the rate of absences from agents continues. ## **‘Feeling the pain’** TSA officers are now approaching their second month without receiving a full paycheck, forcing many to rely on food banks and side jobs to get by. “Many are frustrated. They've gone to try to get help with payments for their rents, electricity bills,” Rebecca Wolf, a member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union, which represents TSA workers, tells TIME. “It just impacts everything, and it takes a toll on your mental and your emotional health, and eventually that breaks you down physically. So officers are getting sick, they're calling out.” Many TSA officers she speaks to have both parents in the same line of work or are single parents, meaning they have no other income to supplement them at this time. Wolf herself has had to make sacrifices. “My son, he's in high school, but he does sports, and he literally had to sit out of one of the sports that he loves so much and is hoping to get a college scholarship in because I can't afford it,” she says. “It's devastating, and people are talking about leaving.” The union blamed Congress for preparing to leave Washington, D.C., for its scheduled April break later this week, potentially without striking a deal to renew DHS funding, which has lapsed since a partial government shutdown began in mid-February. AFGE sent letters to the House and Senate on [March 19](https://www.afge.org/publication/afge-president-slams-congress-for-leaving-town-without-paying-dhs-workers/ "undefined") detailing how its union members are “feeling the pain” of the government shutdown, which has left them without pay, especially as many of the 50,000 workers are still recovering from debts incurred during the 43-day [government shutdown](https://time.com/7333543/government-shutdown-over/ "undefined") in November. During that shutdown, many TSA employees went 50 days or more without pay. “The families of more than a few of our members are turning to food banks for assistance and reaching out to their banks, mortgage lenders and landlords, and credit card companies for relief,” the letter to the House of Representatives sent on Thursday [said](https://www.afge.org/globalassets/documents/generalreports/2026/afge-house-of-rep-letter-03.19.2026.pdf "undefined"). The DHS has said [at least 366 TSA ](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/03/17/spring-break-under-siege-democrats-reckless-dhs-shutdown-forcing-tsa-officers-work "undefined")officers have quit since the shutdown began. Beyond those quitting, the TSA says employees are calling out of work because they cannot afford the gas to travel, and some [are even spending the night](https://x.com/OmarJimenez/status/2034344152872210796?s=20 "undefined") at the airport to save money. “If this goes on very much longer, we're going to lose a lot more people, and it does take months to get new people trained. Wolf says. “But with every person we're losing, we're losing experience, because it takes a long time to build those catalogs in your brain for the X-ray.” Airports in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Phoenix are accepting [donations](https://www.skyharbor.com/about-phx/news-media/press-releases/phoenix-sky-harbor-accepting-donations-for-workers-amid-government-shutdown/#:~:text=Compassion%20Corner%20%E2%80%93%20located%20pre%2Dsecurity,%E2%80%93%2030%20%E2%80%93 "undefined") to TSA officers, while others have opened a food pantry or are providing free meal vouchers for each shift. “TSA officers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport continue to show up every day to protect millions of travelers, even as they face uncertainty at home,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a [statement](https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/15678/672 "undefined") announcing that screeners at the city’s airport would receive two free meal vouchers per shift, free parking, and free public transportation to help them through the shutdown. ## **What is behind the partial DHS shutdown?** The battle over DHS funding has its roots in a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans over Trump's [aggressive crackdown on immigration](https://time.com/7358027/ice-agents-minnesota-alex-pretti-abolish-ice/ "undefined"). Democrats have put the brakes on some DHS funding until Republicans agree to place new restrictions on federal immigration agents following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and [Renee Good](https://time.com/7345319/ice-shootings-renee-good/ "undefined") in Minneapolis earlier this year. There was some movement on Tuesday of last week, when the White House said it would agree to new measures for ICE agents, including to “expand” the use of body cameras, to limit immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals, and to require officers to wear “visible identification,” but it refused other demands related to warrants and maskless patrols. Several funding votes have failed as Democrats refuse to back down as they did to end November’s shutdown over [healthcare](http://google.com/search?q=healthcare+shutdown+time+magazine&rlz=1C5GCEM%5FenUS1111US1111&oq=healthcare+shutdown+time+magazine&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRirAjIHCAYQIRirAtIBCDM0MjdqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 "undefined"), and Republicans refuse to fund TSA separately from immigration operations. “They haven’t budged on those,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday on the issues of warrants and masks in ICE enforcement. He said the offer from the White House was still unacceptable. “They’ve got to get serious.” The House Committee on Homeland Security has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to review the impact of the partial shutdown on the TSA and other DHS agencies. 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