The seeming impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is causing havoc in the nation’s airports, with long lines at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, as TSA employees are working without pay, and some of them are starting to walk off the job. We can scarcely blame them for not caring to work for free.
Now, President Trump is looking to prod Democrats into getting DHS funded by threatening to put Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the airports in place of the unpaid TSA workers. And, as you might expect, the ICE agents will be arresting any illegal aliens they encounter on the spot.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 21, 2026
The president writes:
If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including 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. I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Now that’s an interesting notion. It’s unclear if the president has the legal authority to do this, but TSA and ICE are both under the control of the executive branch and therefore answer, ultimately, to the president – so he very well might.
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Note that this will not only make Democrats’ heads explode, but it may actually relieve some of the pressure on travelers. Speaking as one who was a more-or-less professional traveler for many years, a long journey in the friendly skies is already stressful enough without waiting for two or three hours in the screening line. If President Trump is able to get those lines staffed and running, most travelers will remember that – not that a few illegal aliens got scooped up in the process. It’s also a safe bet that illegals won’t risk their illegal residency by strolling into an airport where ICE is doing the screening.
Two birds, one stone.
Note also the president’s emphasis on Minnesota, where he calls out in particular Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-05). That has to have Minnesota Democrats in a tizzy, and that’s worth doing, every day and twice on Sunday.
A good portion of the nation’s economy depends on efficient travel. I should know; I was part of that world for a couple of decades. The current situation, with TSA people unpaid, some soldiering on, but some giving up; this just can’t continue. If the president can order some ICE agents, or any federal law enforcement, to temporarily plug that gap and get air travel moving smoothly again, then it’s worth doing.
Prediction: If the president orders this, look for some tame Democrat-appointed judge to issue an injunction against ICE agents taking up TSA’s duties in airports within a matter of days – maybe hours.
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