ICE agents deployed to PHL as security wait times grow | Southeastern Pennsylvania

Airports across the country are seeing long lines, and hundreds of TSA officers are still working without pay.

Immigration agents have been deployed to help out. President Donald Trump says sending the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers was his idea.

“I want to thank ICE because they stepped in so, so strongly. They’ll do great. And if that’s not enough, I’ll bring in the National Guard,” Trump said.

At Philadelphia International Airport, travelers noticed the federal presence.

“It’s nice that they’re unmasked. I feel very strange about, when an agency like ICE is masked. So, it’s nice that they’re unmasked. Everybody has been very friendly, smiling at me,” said Toby Cisneros, who was traveling through PHL Tuesday.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner warned agents to stay within the law.

“I will put you in handcuffs, I will put you in a courtroom, and if necessary, I will put you in a jail cell if you decide to make the terrazzo floor of this airport anything like what you did in the streets of Minneapolis,” Krasner said.

DHS reports that nearly 3,200 TSA workers missed their scheduled shifts Monday, and at least 458 have quit altogether.

Lawmakers remain divided over how to end the funding stalemate at the Department of Homeland Security, which is now in the its sixth week.

“That is, uh, not my preference. I can tell you the House has funded DHS twice. We’re prepared to do it again, completely fund the entire department. That is a responsible way to do this thing. So we’ve been very resistant to any idea to break it apart,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said.

“What’s being discussed right now, which is we don’t fund ICE ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) operations and we get some reforms to how ICE operates, how HSI operates, how CBP operates, that’s appealing to me,” Senator Chris Coons said.

Lawmakers say negotiations are ongoing but there’s still no timeline for a vote.

Travelers at airports like Philadelphia may continue facing long waits while unpaid TSA workers remain on the job.