Outside the Beltway

Trump’s Plan to Address Airport Mayhem

ICE, ICE baby?

James Joyner · Sunday, March 22, 2026 · 6 comments

NBC News reports “More than 400 TSA officers have quit since shutdown began.”

More than 400 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit since a partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14 has left them working without pay, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Funding was shut off to DHS over demands by Democrats for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection following alleged abuses and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.

There has also been a national callout rate of 10% at TSA on more than half the days of the last week, Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said Saturday in response to questions.

[…]

Some TSA workers have expressed fears about unpaid bills and worse because they aren’t being paid. Anthony Riley, a 58-year-old married father of three who has been working without pay for weeks, told NBC News earlier this month that he faces possible eviction and the specter of being homeless.

There have been increased wait times — and frustration — at airports due to the shutdown.

The highest nationwide callout rate during the shutdown came on Friday, at 10.22%, a DHS spokesperson said.

John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City had a callout rate of 29.5% on Friday, and Houston Intercontinental Airport had a rate of 36.6% the same day, the spokesperson said.

Houston Hobby Airport had a callout rate of 51.5% on Friday, according to DHS.

President Trump is ready with a solution.

In case the Radical Left Democrats missed it the first time, he repeated himself a little over two hours later, with feeling.

WSJ (“Trump Says He’ll Send ICE to Airports If Funding Standoff Continues“):

President Trump said he would move Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to airports starting Monday if Democrats don’t support an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

The funding impasse has resulted in hourslong security lines at some airports during the spring-break travel period as Transportation Security Administration officers have quit or called off from work. If Congress doesn’t agree on DHS funding by March 27 and leaves for a scheduled two-week recess, TSA officers are set to miss more than a month of paychecks.

If a deal isn’t reached, Trump wrote Saturday in a social-media post, “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday.” ICE agents at airports would do “Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” he wrote in another post.

I’m no expert on border security, but to the best of my knowledge, our problem with illegal immigration does not involve people flying in on commercial airlines. Unless things have changed since my last international flight, those people have to clear customs. And be able to afford a plane ticket.

Additionally, to the best of my knowledge, ICE does not train its officers to scan luggage.

Regardless,

Funding for DHS, of which the TSA is a part, has been held up by a fight between Republicans and Democrats over immigration enforcement. Congress has held several votes on restoring funding and plans more, but the prospects for a deal look dim. While ICE is also part of the department, the agency has access to funds from a separate law passed last year.

There is no small irony that Congressional Democrats are using what little leverage they have to force a change in the way ICE is being used in such a way that makes all DHS employees except ICE agents suffer.

Republicans could end the standoff and support TSA workers by voting for Democrats’ proposal to restore funding to TSA specifically, Democratic senators including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) have said.

On Saturday, Schumer used a procedural maneuver to try to force a vote on funding the TSA, but Republicans blocked the move.

GOP senators, meanwhile, have led efforts to fund all of DHS, which Democrats have stopped.

“The rank and file who work for TSA have nothing to do with the process, and yet they’re the ones without a paycheck,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) said recently.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said he would cancel the coming Senate recess if the two sides can’t reach a deal.

TSA workers are a linchpin of U.S. airport security, scanning travelers and their bags before they can head to their gates. Pay varies by location, though the mean annual wage was $61,800 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As the weeks pass without paychecks, officer absences have slowed security checks at airports across the U.S. Some lines have taken travelers hours to pass.

Underscoring the concerns about the backups at airports, billionaire Elon Musk posted on X on Saturday offering to pay TSA workers during the funding impasse. It wasn’t immediately clear how Musk planned to do that.

Many officers have been struggling to afford rent, utilities and other expenses, said several officers and their union.

If TSA workers go without another paycheck, “I don’t know how many people are actually going to be able to make it into work,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer for the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100, which represents the officers.

Some officers have sold plasma, delivered groceries and driven for ride-hailing services to get money to pay bills, according to the union.

An officer in Florida said he is planning to quit and take another security job if March 27 comes and goes without a funding deal, because he can’t afford to go longer without pay. His bank account is already $500 short, the officer said, and his utility company has threatened to shut off his power next month if he doesn’t pay his overdue bills before then.

Federal law prohibits TSA workers from striking. In addition, the agency has made it harder for officers to call in sick, said workers and union officials. In the past, officers didn’t need a doctor’s note until they had been sick for three days. Now, a note is required on day one, said the workers and union officials. Otherwise, they may not be able to get back pay for those days.

Officers at two airports said that their managers encouraged them to take out a loan from their federal-worker retirement plan, but that they are reluctant to do so because they would lose out on any earnings and would need to repay the loans with interest.

That TSA workers, who are poorly paid to begin with, are having to work a demanding job without pay is just outrageous. That some are having to take on second jobs, rely on food banks to feed their families, and risk having their homes and cars repossessed is simply shameful.