WATCH: Homan Provides Timetable On ICE Deployments To Major Airports

White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed Sunday that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will deploy to selected U.S. airports starting Monday in order to bolster Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations.

The confirmation comes just a day after President Donald Trump indicated that he will be deploying ICE agents if Democrats refuse to end their blockade of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding. The partial shutdown has caused TSA agents to miss two paychecks, which has led to more than 400 resignations and call-out rates pushing 30 percent at some of the nation’s busiest airports.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has stated that impacts will only worsen in the coming days, with TSA wait times already exceeding three hours at major hubs.

During Sunday’s installment of CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homan confirmed that planning discussions were underway with acting ICE Director Tedd Lyons and acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill. ICE deployments are designed to prioritize airports with the longest delays, Homan explained.

He stated that ICE personnel would handle certain non-specialized security tasks to allow TSA officers to focus on screening. “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that, but there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them into specialized jobs, help move those lines,” Homan said.

Examples include guarding exit doors to prevent unauthorized entry or re-entry and potentially verifying identification before screening areas. ICE agents already maintain a presence at many airports for investigative work, including smuggling cases, and will continue immigration enforcement activities alongside their support roles.

The exact number of agents involved and the initial list of airports remained under finalization as of Sunday, Homan noted. “We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” he added.

Dana Bash: Are ICE agents even REMOTELY trained to handle security at airports??

Homan: ICE agents are highly trained and are already at many airports. They can handle guarding exits so TSA officers can get back to the X-ray machines.

He’s so good. pic.twitter.com/MWswXk5YZ5

— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) March 22, 2026

President Trump previously announced the effort in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

He indicated that ICE agents would report to airports on Monday under Homan’s direction to aid TSA staff. The president described the deployment as a means to maintain security standards during the staffing challenges and noted that agents would perform their duties effectively.

Trump emphasized that the operation would proceed regardless of the status of funding negotiations, with Homan overseeing execution.

The deployment comes amid an ongoing partial government shutdown that Democrats implemented on February 14. As a result, more than 60,000 TSA agents have been forced to work without paychecks for weeks, marking the third such instance in about six months,

ICE operations, however, remain fully funded and unaffected by the shutdown. Prior legislation provided dedicated appropriations for ICE and related enforcement functions, enabling agents to receive pay and continue their mandated duties without interruption.

This separation allows ICE to redirect some resources temporarily to airport support without impacting its core immigration enforcement responsibilities nationwide.

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