Southwest Florida International Airport is the only airport in the state where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been deployed, the Lee County Port Authority Board\u2019s chair said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The ICE initiative began Monday, Chairman and County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said at a press conference following the Matlacha Centennial celebration and ribbon-cutting marking the county\u2019s completion of projects in Matlacha, and FDOT\u2019s conclusion of its Little Pine Island Bridge Reconstruction Project. <\/p>\n
Agents are currently working to keep lines down, with safety as the most important priority, he said at the conference at Matlacha Park, adding passengers are being encouraged to come early for their flights, especially in this busy travel season of Easter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the passengers are safe \u2014 that all the passengers are screened properly is the most important thing,\u201d Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n
His message to Homeland Security and the White House, he said, was to let them know that the folks in Lee County are safe. The Transportation Security Administration will continue to lead the coordination with ICE, along with the assistance of the port authority, he said, emphasizing that ICE agents are only there for backup at this point. <\/p>\n
Pendergrass, who represents District 2 and also serves as chair of the Board of Lee County Commissioners, said that some of the ICE agents at RSW have even been answering questions for passengers, rather than asking any. As of Monday, they were asking people what he called common conversational questions, such as where they were from and what they did. <\/p>\n
The most important thing for all of Southwest Florida to know, is to be patient, even if you\u2019re at the end of the line, Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d also like to stop and thank the businesses here in Lee County, that have stepped up these last few weeks to recognize the TSA agents that have experienced some pay delays,\u201d Pendergrass said, adding these agents will be paid at a later date. <\/p>\n
TSA jobs are often thankless, Pendergrass said and some local businesses have gone out of their way to support the agents with food or in other ways.<\/p>\n
There was no particular reason that drove the federal decision send ICE agents to RSW, he said \u2014 it was just an opportunity to have all hands on deck, which he mentioned was his message to DHS and again, the White House. <\/p>\n
ICE has a continuing presence in Lee County and a memorandum of understanding with the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office entered into in February of last year.<\/p>\n
So far, he said, the ICE agents he\u2019s seen are local. <\/p>\n
Anyone coming through the airport without legal citizenship does run the risk of being detained, he said. <\/p>\n
Passengers need to know they\u2019re safe as they travel to and from Lee County this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re on top of this,\u201d Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n