A security checkpoint inside San Francisco International Airport on May 7, 2025. ICE agents will deploy to U.S. airports as TSA staffing shortages worsen during the shutdown, raising concerns about delays and security roles.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
A security checkpoint inside San Francisco International Airport on May 7, 2025. ICE agents will deploy to U.S. airports as TSA staffing shortages worsen during the shutdown, raising concerns about delays and security roles.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
The Trump administration said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to airports starting Monday, as a federal shutdown stretches into its sixth week, leaving Transportation Security Administration workers unpaid and staffing strained.
Border czar Tom Homan said on CNN that officials are finalizing assignments for agents, with a plan expected to take effect immediately. The goal, he said, is to ease pressure on TSA officers and reduce long security lines at major airports nationwide.
“We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” Homan said, including “what airports we’re starting with.”
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Homan said ICE agents would not operate X-ray machines but could assist in other roles, allowing TSA officers to focus on screening. He added that ICE agents would continue carrying out immigration enforcement duties at airports.
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For Bay Area travelers, the impact may be less severe — at least for now.
San Francisco International Airport is one of about 20 U.S. airports that use private contractors, rather than federal TSA employees, to staff security checkpoints under federal oversight. Because those screeners are privately employed and funded, they continue to be paid during the shutdown, helping SFO avoid the staffing shortages seen elsewhere.
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That could help keep security lines moving in San Francisco even as delays worsen nationwide. Still, travelers are not fully insulated from broader disruptions, including flight delays and crowding.
The plan is drawing sharp criticism from labor leaders and Democrats.
“Replacing unpaid TSA workers with ICE agents is not a solution, but a dangerous escalation,” Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. “ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security.”
Kelley added that TSA officers spend months developing specialized skills to detect explosives and other threats, noting , You cannot improvise that.”
Airline passengers wait in long lines to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on March 8, 2026. ICE agents will deploy to U.S. airports as TSA staffing shortages worsen during the shutdown, raising concerns about delays and security roles.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
He warned that inserting untrained personnel into security roles “does not fill a gap,” but rather creates one, as airports nationwide already grapple with long lines and staffing shortages during the shutdown.
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“They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be,” Kelley said.
The comments come as more than 50,000 TSA employees have gone without pay for over five weeks, with hundreds quitting amid mounting financial strain, according to the union. The Department of Homeland Security reports that more than 400 officers have quit since the shutdown began. At the same time, absenteeism has risen, contributing to hourslong waits in cities including Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans.
“And Washington’s answer isn’t to pay them. It’s to send ICE agents to do their jobs,” Kelley said, urging Congress to act. “Congress has the power to fund TSA today. It’s time for them to stop playing politics and do their jobs.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also warned against the move, saying, “The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them.”
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Vice President JD Vance defended the move, blaming Democrats for the ongoing disruption.
“We’ve all seen the chaos unleashed by Democrats at airports across the country. It’s preposterous that Chuck Schumer continues to hold TSA funding hostage,” Vance posted on X, referencing the Senate minority leader. “Thankfully, ICE will bring sanity to our airports starting tomorrow, but it’s far past time for Democrats to fund DHS.”