President Donald Trump sent ICE officers to selected U.S. airports on Monday in a controversial decision to help alleviate hours-long security lines and help TSA agents. The news comes as TSA agents have been working without pay for more than a month. Here’s what’s happening.
TSA agents have been working without pay as Democrats and Republicans are negotiating Department of Homeland Security funding
Democrats requested a change in policy regarding ICE tactics after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers. The negotiations have led to a partial government shutdown during which government employees, like TSA agents, have been working without pay. Both parties reportedly agreed to fund the government as they negotiate DHS funding, according to Politifact and as shared by PBS News.
During government shutdowns, employees aren’t paid, even those deemed essential workers, as are 95% of TSA agents. After funding resumes, employees will be paid back the salary they are owed in accordance with a 2019 law.
It is unclear when negotiations will be reached between the parties. Trump has been putting pressure on Republicans not to strike a deal with Democrats until the SAVE America Act is passed. The bill would make changes to voter registration, including banning vote-by-mail ballots and requiring identification to match a voter’s name at birth.
Why are ICE agents being paid during the partial government shutdown?
Weeks of TSA working without pay have culminated in hours-long lines at security and a deadly accident at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Sunday. As a result, Trump sent in ICE officers to airports to help, although it isn’t clear what their role is.
“We put ICE in charge, they are helping (Transportation Security Administration) agents,” Trump said, according to Politifact.
ICE agents are being paid despite ongoing government negotiations via Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The 2025 law included $75 billion for ICE over the course of four years. The budget includes $45 billion for new immigration detention beds, as well as $30 billion to hire 10,000 ICE employees and upgrade facilities.
A lack of TSA funding heightens security risks at airports, according to experts
Long lines at U.S. airports pose a security risk due to the high volume of travelers: “The wait times are obviously spiking everywhere, which means it’s more chaotic, which creates a security vulnerability,” Keith Jeffries, vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and former TSA lead at Los Angeles International Airport, said in an interview with CNN.
John Pistole, who was the TSA administrator during the Obama administration, said agents’ concerns about meeting their own basic needs may affect efficiency during security screenings.
“They’re humans who might be distracted because they were worried about, ‘How am I going to pay the rent this month, buy groceries, child care, all those basics,’” he said. “That’s just human nature, even though they strive to do the best job and be professionals.”
Other experts, like acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, say that the longer the shutdown continues, the more it puts the “workforce in a perilous situation.”
“We’re doing everything that we can during this time to maintain a strong security posture, especially during this heightened threat environment,” McNeill told CNN. “Our officers are doing a tremendous job showing up every day at work and screening the traveling public to make sure that they’re making it to their destination safely. But I will say, it is a real human toll wake up and show up to work every day, not knowing how you’re going to pay your bills, and so I am, of course, concerned about the workforce.”