ICE agents end airport assignments after TSA pay resumes
ICE agents end airport assignments after TSA pay resumes
Fri, April 10, 2026 at 2:15 PM UTC
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Passengers are screened by a TSA agent at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Paul Beaty/AP)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are wrapping up their work at airports after being deployed last month by President Donald Trump to help with long security lines.
The agents were sent to 14 airports to help compensate for Transportation Security Administration workers who called out sick during a period when they were unpaid.
RELATED STORY | Airport bottlenecks ease as TSA workers get paid, but shutdown continues
Airports in Phoenix, Cleveland and Pittsburgh report ICE agents are no longer on site. Security lines began to shorten after the president ordered TSA agents be paid.
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While on assignment, ICE agents helped check IDs, manage lines and hand out water to waiting passengers. ICE said agents could still be seen at airports if conducting enforcement operations.
The Department of Homeland Security remains without formal funding from Congress, so it is unclear whether at some point, those paychecks could disappear. DHS funding has been tied up as Democrats have demanded administrative changes for immigration enforcement before fully funding the department.
RELATED STORY | TSA shortages snarl airports as government shutdown stretches into Spring Break
Democrats have offered proposals to fund parts of DHS, including TSA, but those have stalled.The House and Senate only held pro forma sessions this week, keeping most lawmakers away from Washington amid the funding lapse.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
