Leftist Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is threatening to arrest federal immigration agents helping at airports during the partial government shutdown.
Krasner made the remarks during a Tuesday press conference at the Philadelphia International Airport, one of roughly a dozen airports where the Trump administration has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to offset Transportation Security Administration staffing shortages.
“You commit crimes within the jurisdiction that is the city and county of Philadelphia, I prosecute you. That is how it works,” Krasner said. “No, I don’t take a phone call from the president saying ‘Let him go.’ No, the president cannot pardon you. I’ll say it again, the president cannot pardon you. And yes, I will put you in handcuffs, and I will put you in a courtroom, and if necessary I will put you in a jail cell.”
Krasner also warned against excessive force, citing recent controversies involving federal agents in Minnesota.
“If you decide to make the terrazzo floor of this airport anything like what you did in the streets of Minneapolis, which involved the criminal homicide of unarmed innocent people, we are not having that here,” Krasner said. “To any agent who might think about doing it an illegal way, I’ll be seeing you in court, and you’re not gonna like it.”
The comments come as ICE agents have been deployed to assist with airport operations during the ongoing DHS shutdown, which has strained TSA staff.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday, TSA Acting Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said the additional ICE personnel have provided relief at the airports experiencing long lines.
“The ICE agents that are there are doing non-specialized screening functions, it’s been incredibly helpful to alleviate the burden on our workforce and we’re getting positive feedback from passengers and our field leadership alike,” McNeill said.
With no end to the shutdown in sight, travelers are forced to wait hours in lines to reach a TSA screening point at some airports. More than 3,450 TSA officers, who account for roughly 11.76% of the workforce, called out on Sunday, according to NewsNation. Since the shutdown began in mid-February, more than 450 TSA officers have quit.
At Houston’s George Bush International Airport, where wait times hovered around four hours Tuesday, ICE officers distributed water, assisted travelers, and helped maintain order in long lines, The Daily Wire observed.
Some passengers took the time to thank the officers and shake their hands as they waited.
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