--- title: Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports description: The President noted he is, however, "a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals." canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-24T14:02:23.851Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-24T14:02:24.090Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports og:description: The President noted he is, however, "a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals." og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5597195d12dac1f/69c19e68b831efa89bd0e757/trump-ice-airports-.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-ice-airports-.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports twitter:description: The President noted he is, however, "a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5597195d12dac1f/69c19e68b831efa89bd0e757/trump-ice-airports-.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e5f534ac-da02-4e2d-b68f-d06a480f0c63&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why ICE Is at Airports and What It Means for You [Watch (HLS stream): Why ICE Is at Airports and What It Means for You](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Y5ubJpol.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2026-03-23. The President noted he is, however, "a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals."_ by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Mar 24, 2026 2:02 PM UTC by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Mar 24, 2026 2:02 PM UTC President Donald Trump is asking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who are being [dispatched to U.S. airports](https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/ice-airports-homan-duffy-trump-administration/) amid the partial government shutdown not to wear masks as they aid in airport security operations. “I am a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals,” Trump said in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116278600245530358) on Monday morning. “I would greatly appreciate, however, NO MASKS, when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports, etc. Thank you!” Trump [said](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116272713025328785) the day before that ICE agents would be deployed to airports across the country starting on Monday to help Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents, who are currently working without pay during the ongoing shutdown. The partial shutdown, which is only affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), [began on Feb. 14](https://time.com/7378601/government-shutdown-congress-ice-dhs-democrats-polls/) and has led to air travel chaos in recent weeks. Travelers have reported hours-long security lines at some airports that have experienced staffing shortages among TSA agents. TSA officers are essential workers, and so are expected to continue showing up to work—even though they’re not being paid—during a shutdown. **Read more:** [_Why Trump Is Deploying ICE to Airports—and What They’ll Actually Do_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/ice-airports-homan-duffy-trump-administration/) The White House [said](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2035737118652223519) on Sunday that more than 400 TSA officers have quit their jobs since the shutdown began. Last week, Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl [warned](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/airport-close-delays-dhs-shutdown-tsa/) that some smaller airports may have to “quite literally shut down” if Congress doesn’t end the shutdown soon. The ongoing shutdown, now in its sixth week, came amid a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over immigration enforcement,as Trump’s crackdown faced widespread backlash in the wake of federal officers [fatally shooting two American citizens](https://time.com/7368923/minneapolis-ice-operation-protests-renee-good-alex-pretti/) in Minneapolis at the start of the year. Democrats refused to support a funding bill for DHS unless the agency [rolled out new guardrails](https://time.com/7358586/government-shutdown-democrat-demands-ice/) on federal immigration agents, including requiring that all ICE agents not wear masks and be outfitted with functioning body cameras. The Trump Administration and Republican lawmakers pushed back against Democrats’ proposals, arguing that the guardrails would hinder DHS’ ability to carry out the President’s immigration enforcement crackdown. In an interview with [CNN’s State of the Union](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sotu/date/2026-03-22/segment/01) on Sunday, White House Border Czar Tom Homan said that “ICE agents receive a high level of training” and that some are already stationed at airports for various roles. He said he wanted to send ICE agents to “airports where the longest waits are.” “Wherever we can provide extra security—I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” Homan told CNN. “But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines.” Stahl said in an interview with [Fox News](https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2036062584000872549) on Monday that the agency was “grateful for the ICE support,” adding that ICE agents will be “conducting non-specialized security support—manning the exit lanes, crowd management, line control,” which will “help alleviate the challenges that our officers are facing.” But Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about an expanded ICE presence at major travel hubs, arguing that the immigration agents don’t have the same kind of training that TSA officers do. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York condemned the move on Sunday, saying in a [post on X](https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/2035786498818146724): “Untrained ICE agents lurking at our airports is asking for trouble. And it will make the chaos at our airports worse.” ## Transcript Those airport screeners making sure you don't have anything in your pockets. They don't have much in theirs, as a partial government shutdown has had them working weeks without pay. It's a mess that's led to huge lines at airports, and now Ice agents are on the scene with the hopes they can take some of the pressure off. Here's what it means for you in one minute of your time. The Department of Homeland Security's funding was cut off on February 14th. Democrats in Congress said they wouldn't renew it without changes in how President Donald Trump was running his immigration crackdown. The result was no paychecks for the TSA agents at airports, many of them calling in sick rather than work for free. Huge lines at airports followed. Republicans, taking their cues from the white House, said no to most of the Democrats demands. But it's been weeks now, and it seems like Trump is ready to give in on some of the Democrats demands, like having federal officers wear proper identification and use body cameras. Both sides, though, seem to be talking past each other. Trump officials say some airports might close altogether if they keep having missing agents as a stopgap. Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to the air hubs, but it's not clear how much they're going to fix this. TSA already is down more than a thousand agents from the last government shutdown, which was in the fall. And unless Congress can strike a deal to get cash flowing again to Homeland Security, that number of missing agents is only going to keep growing, much like the wait times at airports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/"},"headline":"Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports","datePublished":"2026-03-24T14:02:23.851Z","dateModified":"2026-03-24T14:02:24.090Z","description":"The President noted he is, however, \"a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals.\"","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5597195d12dac1f/69c19e68b831efa89bd0e757/trump-ice-airports-.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chantelle Lee","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5597195d12dac1f/69c19e68b831efa89bd0e757/trump-ice-airports-.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-ice-airports-.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Stacey Wescott—Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/","name":"Trump Asks ICE Agents Not to Wear Masks While Assisting at Airports"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why ICE Is at Airports and What It Means for You","description":"The President noted he is, however, \"a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals.\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Y5ubJpol/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-03-23T18:29:16.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Y5ubJpol.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/23/trump-ice-airports-masks-tsa-dhs-shutdown/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```