AFGE’s Distress Over ICE Involvement with TSA
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing around 820,000 federal workers, is upset with the decision to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents assist the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at airports during the ongoing partial government shutdown.
This past weekend, President Trump announced the deployment of ICE officers to aid TSA at major airports nationwide, a move that was later confirmed by Tom Homan, head of Trump’s border operations. Consequently, ICE agents are set to help out at a minimum of 14 airports, including:
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Houston William P. Hobby Airport
- President Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York)
- LaGuardia Airport (New York)
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Pittsburgh International Airport
- Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, Florida)
The AFGE opposes this initiative, arguing that TSA personnel should be supported rather than replaced by what AFGE President Everett Kelly referred to as “untrained, armed officers who have demonstrated potential danger.”
“Over 50,000 TSA employees have been working without pay for over five weeks. We’ve seen hundreds quit. Their solution is not to compensate these workers; it’s to send in ICE agents to fill their roles,” Kelly stated on March 22nd.
He elaborated on the matter:
ICE agents lack the necessary training and certification for aviation security. TSA personnel undergo extensive training for months to identify explosives, weapons, and other threats that are specifically designed for checkpoint evasion. This expertise is not something that can be improvised. In fact, deploying untrained personnel at security checkpoints only increases vulnerability.
TSA staff show up each day without pay because they believe in the mission of safeguarding the public. They deserve to be compensated properly, rather than being substituted by armed agents who have proven to be a risk.
“Congress has the power to secure funding for TSA,” he continued. “It’s high time they focus on resolving this issue instead of engaging in political games.”
Meanwhile, concerns exist about the role of immigration enforcement. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat, confirmed that at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, ICE officers would be providing essential public assistance, including crowd control and line management, clarifying that this deployment is not aimed at immigration enforcement.
In response to Kelly’s claims about the lack of training among ICE officers, Homan stated that they are indeed “highly trained,” adding that many are already stationed at various airports across the country.
“ICE officers have been performing necessary investigations, including criminal smuggling cases at airports. TSA personnel manage the exits, and we have ICE officers who are well-equipped to oversee those areas too,” he mentioned.
