Federal immigration agents assist with security along the lines of air travelers waiting to progress through the TSA checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
Air travelers progress through the long lines for the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
ICE agents deployed to both Houston airports Monday morning as TSA agents continued to work with no pay and IAH security lines hit four hours.
Jarrod Wardwell/Houston Chronicle
A Houston police officer assists with security of the long lines of air travelers waiting to progress to the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal A at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
Air travelers wait in line as they progress to the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal A at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
Air travelers wait in a long line that spirals across the open spaces, starting from the baggage claim area on the floor below the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal A at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
A TSA officer, center in blue, holds talks with people as he paces air travelers progressing through the long lines at the security checkpoint in Terminal A at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
Federal immigration agents assist air travelers waiting to progress through the TSA checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
The line at IAH is shown Monday morning, March 23, 2026, in Houston.
Jarrod Wardwell / Staff photo
Travelers at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport saw lines of more than four hours at the TSA security checkpoints in Terminals A and E, Houston airport officials warned Monday afternoon, saying Tuesday passengers would find themselves in the same predicament.
TUESDAY UPDATE: Bush Airport TSA wait times more than 4 hours at 2 terminals
The TSA lines continued to grow at Terminals A and E, the only two terminals open at Bush Airport, after federal immigration agents arrived at both Bush Airport and William P. Hobby Airport Monday morning. The Houston Airport System urged travelers to contact their airlines because they could miss their Monday evening flights.
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President Donald Trump had announced over the weekend that he would deploy ICE to U.S. airports on Monday. TSA has been without funding for more than a month while Congress is deadlocked over immigration enforcement policy. Hundreds of TSA officers have quit, unable to afford basic expenses like food, rent, gas and child care, said Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.
A group of ICE officers gathered at baggage claim in Bush Airport’s Terminal A, where a Houston Airport System staffer appeared to direct them toward their assignments shortly after 8:45 a.m.
“Monitor the line, maybe spread out, maybe half upstairs,” the airport staffer told the agents before the group disbanded. Later, at least three ICE agents stood alongside the winding TSA line on the top floor of the busy terminal.
ICE agents maintained a quiet presence along the edges of the standard screening security line at Bush Airport’s Terminal A. Some guided passengers between different segments of the twisting line. Others stood to the side and watched. ICE officers at Hobby Airport walked casually back and forth without engaging with waiting passengers or airport staff.
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Erika Lawson, 61, a passenger at Hobby Airport, where lines hovered around 10 minutes, said she didn’t like seeing the ICE agents.
“I don’t feel they have a place here, and I’m very curious as to why they’re showing their face here in the airport and yet on the street they’re covering their face,” she said.
Why is ICE at Houston airports?
Federal immigration agents peer over railings on the floor above the lines of air travelers progressing to the TSA security checkpoint in Terminal C at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
TSA staffing issues have affected major airports nationwide amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.
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Democrats have refused to fund DHS unless reforms to immigration enforcement are guaranteed. Federal officials and Republicans have blamed Democrats for the TSA worker shortage at airports.
“Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours-long lines at airports across the country — especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families,” Bis said in a statement.
Saturday’s nationwide TSA worker callout rate was the highest since the shutdown began, and the rates at Hobby and Bush airports were among the highest in the country that day, according to data from the federal agency. On Saturday, more than 47% of TSA officers at Hobby Airport called out of work, followed by more than 42% at Bush Airport, according to TSA.
TSA officers have gone without pay three times in nearly six months, according to DHS. A record-breaking government shutdown caused similar scenes with hours-long wait times at Bush Airport late last year.
Cynthia Ruffin missed her Monday morning flight to New York because of the winding lines at Bush Airport. She was in town for her niece’s birthday, but said traveling was a “horrible decision” as she moved past the baggage claim area in Terminal A standard screening line.
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“I’m going to miss work, and I shouldn’t have to miss work because I’m taking a trip with my hard-earned money,” Ruffin said.
What are people saying about ICE presence at airports?
Jud Teague, 71, watched the ICE agents walk up and down the main corridor at Hobby Airport.
The 14-year Navy veteran and former Republican from Orange County, Calif., said he has been “disappointed in this country” since Trump’s reelection. Teague said he doesn’t believe ICE belongs at airports.
“What would they do today? They’re not even trained as TSA agents,” he said.
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Destiny Amador, 28, said ICE agents’ presence at Hobby could make people feel unsafe and affect their travels.
“I don’t think people would even want to come here,” she said.
Vannesa Nixon, a 72-year-old on her way to Nashville for vacation, expressed cautious support for ICE efforts to assist with airport security, saying the change could be positive if it does not lead to widespread harm or fear.
Her best friend, Judy Shaefer, 72, said people who have lived here for a long time, raised families, and worked hard shouldn’t be automatically removed from the country because their paperwork isn’t in order. She noted that people may not have the money or knowledge to apply for citizenship.
Passenger Alan Littlefield said he was all for ICE agents coming to Hobby. Littlefield said he had just arrived at the airport and didn’t see any agents, but while speaking with a Chronicle reporter, two agents strolled by.
“Oh, there they are,” he said. “They’re here to help, and I’m all for it.”
Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA agents, bashed the ICE response. He said ICE agents lack the training and certification that would teach them how to identify explosives, weapons and other threats at security checkpoints.
“Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap,” Kelley said in a Sunday statement. “It creates one.”
He urged Congress to “stop playing politics and do their jobs” while TSA remains unfunded.
Joanna Kuebler, the chief of programs at the national immigrants’ rights group America’s Voice, said sending ICE agents to airports was “dangerous, unnecessary and absurd.” Kuebler said that the Trump administration is misplacing its priorities by sending ICE agents to airports instead of backing reforms or funding TSA and DHS during immigration talks.
“It’s also another self-inflicted blunder by an administration that seems more interested in stoking Democratic outrage than listening to the American people, solving problems, or governing in a serious fashion,” Kuebler said in a Monday statement.
PreCheck closed at Bush Airport
Air travelers stand by a sign indicating wait time as they progress through the TSA security checkpoint line in Terminal A at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke/Associated Press
TSA LINES: IAH wait times are growing. Here’s what Houston travelers need to know
Bush Airport’s Terminal A and E were open Monday. All other checkpoints were closed, and so were CLEAR and PreCheck.
PreCheck was open for part of the morning in Terminal C but had shut down by the time Houston resident Lacy Jester reached the expedited line Monday morning. After a trek to Terminal A, she had roughly an hour and a half until her Air Canada flight took off for her work trip destination.
“Never, never in my life have I seen anything like this — not the lines, not all the way down the streets, not out in the terminals, the train station,” Jester said. “Never. Never in my life.”
Julián Aguilar contributed to this report.