President Donald Trump is threatening to send ICE agents into airports starting on Monday if Democrats don’t agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been partially shut down for more than a month due to stalled negotiations over immigration enforcement reforms.”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,” Trump wrote in a post on Saturday. The details of that plan were not immediately clear. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN that planning discussions would happen later on Sunday. Homan said ICE is expected to assist with security at entrances and exits, but not in areas where they’re not trained, like passenger screenings. The announcement prompted swift backlash from Democrats. “Masked, armed police at travel checkpoints is a hallmark of dystopian movies,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. “He is manufacturing chaos at airports for political leverage and trying to force Democrats to accept unaccountable secret police at security checkpoints around the country.” Airport security wait times have been growing since DHS funding lapsed more than a month ago. TSA agents are expected to work without pay until the partial shutdown ends, as is the case for other federal employees deemed “essential.” Others have been furloughed. Democrats are still demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement before fully funding DHS, which is also home to ICE and Border Patrol. Those agencies haven’t been hit as hard by the funding lapse since Congress surged immigration enforcement funding as part of Trump’s megabill, which was signed into law last summer. Democrats have proposed moving forward with TSA funding while talks about reforming ICE continue, but Republicans rejected that approach Saturday as the Senate met for a rare weekend session.Meanwhile, there has been some movement on negotiations. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been meeting in recent days, but no compromise has publicly emerged yet. Calls for reform ramped up after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis as protesters pushed back on the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown. The Minnesota operation was in part motivated by allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. Trump said in his post on Saturday that ICE officers sent to airports would focus on arresting immigrants from Somalia who are in the United States illegally. The funding turbulence comes as DHS is also bracing for possible changes under new leadership. The Senate could vote as early as this week to confirm the president’s pick to take over the department, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted from the role after her leadership faced criticism from both sides of the aisle. More Washington News Bureau coverage:
President Donald Trump is threatening to send ICE agents into airports starting on Monday if Democrats don’t agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which has been partially shut down for more than a month due to stalled negotiations over immigration enforcement reforms.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post on Saturday.
The details of that plan were not immediately clear. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN that planning discussions would happen later on Sunday. Homan said ICE is expected to assist with security at entrances and exits, but not in areas where they’re not trained, like passenger screenings.
The announcement prompted swift backlash from Democrats.
“Masked, armed police at travel checkpoints is a hallmark of dystopian movies,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. “He is manufacturing chaos at airports for political leverage and trying to force Democrats to accept unaccountable secret police at security checkpoints around the country.”
Airport security wait times have been growing since DHS funding lapsed more than a month ago. TSA agents are expected to work without pay until the partial shutdown ends, as is the case for other federal employees deemed “essential.” Others have been furloughed.
Democrats are still demanding new restrictions on immigration enforcement before fully funding DHS, which is also home to ICE and Border Patrol. Those agencies haven’t been hit as hard by the funding lapse since Congress surged immigration enforcement funding as part of Trump’s megabill, which was signed into law last summer.
Democrats have proposed moving forward with TSA funding while talks about reforming ICE continue, but Republicans rejected that approach Saturday as the Senate met for a rare weekend session.
Meanwhile, there has been some movement on negotiations. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has been meeting in recent days, but no compromise has publicly emerged yet.
Calls for reform ramped up after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis as protesters pushed back on the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
The Minnesota operation was in part motivated by allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. Trump said in his post on Saturday that ICE officers sent to airports would focus on arresting immigrants from Somalia who are in the United States illegally.
The funding turbulence comes as DHS is also bracing for possible changes under new leadership. The Senate could vote as early as this week to confirm the president’s pick to take over the department, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted from the role after her leadership faced criticism from both sides of the aisle.
More Washington News Bureau coverage:
