On Saturday in West Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump said he would order federal immigration officers to take on duties related to airport security starting Monday if Democrats do not agree to legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security, according to his social media posts. The announcement came as the partial shutdown has continued to affect airport travel, contributing to long lines to pass through screening at some of the nation’s largest airports.
Trump said he was making plans to put officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in airports if the congressional standoff continues. After the Senate failed to find a resolution at a rare weekend session, Trump said he remained resolute in moving forward with the change. “ICE is ready to go on Monday,” he said in his posts, as he urged lawmakers to end the shutdown.
In another post, Trump said he planned to “move ICE in on Monday” and wrote that he had already told the agency to “GET READY.” He also asserted that the effort would bring the administration’s immigration crackdown into airports, adding that officers would arrest “all Illegal Immigrants,” while Trump did not provide details on what the ICE role would mean for the Transportation Security Administration, which conducts most passenger and luggage screening for hazardous items.
Trump’s posts also set out what he said would be an enforcement focus tied to allegations surrounding a Minnesota operation. Democrats, he said, needed to allow “Just and Proper Security” at airports and elsewhere, warning that otherwise ICE would “do the job far better than ever done before.” He linked his approach to the recent Minnesota crackdown, where he said the operation was tied “in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents,” and he said ICE sent to airports would focus on arresting immigrants from Somalia who are in the United States illegally.
While Trump’s statements described the enforcement objectives, they did not explain how ICE officers would work alongside or interact with TSA staff during the funding lapse. Most TSA employees are considered essential and continue to work during the shutdown, but they are doing so without pay, and the administration has said hundreds have quit since the partial shutdown began Feb. 14. The Senate also rejected a Democratic motion to take up legislation to reopen TSA operations and pay workers who are without paychecks.
The dispute in Congress has centered on whether lawmakers should fund parts of DHS separately from the rest of the department. Republicans have argued that DHS funding needs to cover all parts, not only certain components. A bill to fund the Cabinet department failed to advance in the Senate on Friday, while talks between Democrats and the White House restarted in recent days, according to the report.
As negotiations continued, Senate leaders and White House officials prepared for another round of closed-door discussions. Republican and Democratic senators were set to meet for a third consecutive day with White House officials, and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said there were “productive conversations.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune urged the bipartisan group to act quickly, warning Saturday that if they could not come up with a solution soon, “things are going to get worse and worse,” as airport lines have already grown during the shutdown.