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Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to deploy federal immigration agents to US airports on Monday if Democrats do not agree to measures aimed at strengthening security and immigration enforcement.
“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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Airport security is currently handled by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), while ICE handles immigration enforcement. Both are under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE has been a pillar of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, drawing criticism from Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
Trump added that ICE “will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our country” and pointed to a “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”.
In a subsequent post, Trump said the deployment would begin on Monday “if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country”.
The remarks come amid political tensions over immigration policy and a broader debate over federal enforcement powers. Trump’s post came hours after Democrats blocked a DHS funding bill – the fifth time since the shutdown of the agency began in mid-February.
TSA workers could miss their second full paycheck next week as Washington lawmakers feud over the resolution to a partial government shutdown.
Democrats are demanding changes in immigration enforcement operations, including ICE, after recent clashes in Minneapolis resulted in the deaths of two protesters, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Trump’s threat to put ICE agents at airport security checkpoints comes as a growing number of TSA agents are calling out sick or leaving the agency, many citing financial struggles.
Placing ICE at airports also comes almost a year after TSA began requiring airline passengers to show federally compliant drivers licenses or passports at security, giving the federal government a clearer idea of air traveler’s immigration status.
However, it’s disputed whether ICE or Customs and Border Protection has statutory authority to pick up non-US citizens within the country without a warrant – including at airports.
The relevant code – USC 1357 – permits arrests without a warrant “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle, and within a distance of 25 miles from any such external boundary to have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States”.
