US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be sent to airports to help with increasingly long lines at security checkpoints, the Trump administration has said.
US President Donald Trump posted on social media that ICE agents will go to airports on Monday, while Border Czar Tom Homan told CNN that his team was working out the details of the plan.
The union that represents Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers criticised the move, saying staff deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents.
Travellers have faced hours-long airport security queues in recent days as the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security continues.
The DHS has gone without funding since mid-February, after Congress failed to reach an agreement - leaving normal airport security staff without pay.
Trump posted on Truth Social: On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job. Trump's comments came a day after he threatened to send ICE agents to help TSA agents at airports if Democrats did not immediately agree to fund DHS.
Homan assured that ICE agents will not directly screen passengers but rather help relieve TSA personnel from other tasks to allow them to focus on screenings.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the deployment of ICE agents, stating they are largely untrained for such airport environments, raising concerns about passenger safety.
In the wake of the shutdown, TSA agents have faced financial strain, with many leaving their positions, leading to increased waiting times for travelers across the country.
