Despite warnings from Democratic lawmakers that deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports could lead to violence, travelers waiting in hours-long lines at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport appeared to welcome their presence on Tuesday.
At the airport, smiling ICE officers were seen handing out water bottles, offering to hold travelers’ places in line for bathroom breaks, and providing some comedic relief, The Daily Wire observed.
Contrary to the narrative in corporate media, many travelers at Houston’s IAH airport appear to be welcoming ICE’s presence—officers are handing out water and even holding spots in line so people can take bathroom breaks. pic.twitter.com/Z2AzY0zW0B
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 24, 2026
President Donald Trump announced Sunday that ICE would be deployed to some airports to assist staffing shortages affecting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during the ongoing partial government shutdown.
More than 3,450 TSA officers, roughly 11.76% of the force, called out of work Sunday, according to NewsNation. At George Bush Airport in Houston, the absentee rate reached approximately 36%, Fox News reported. Additionally, more than 450 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began in mid-February.
Several Democratic lawmakers had suggested that ICE would escalate tensions at America’s airports. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed ICE agents would “only aggravate delays & lines — disrupting checks, interrogating travelers, dragging parents from children, detaining citizens, brutalizing families, shooting & even killing.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said the “untrained ICE agents” could “potentially … brutalize or in some instances” kill American travelers.
A video that circulated online appeared to show ICE officers tackling a woman at San Francisco International Airport, prompting additional criticism. But Trump did not deploy ICE to that airport, and the Department of Homeland Security said the footage was dated. It involved a Guatemalan family with an outstanding deportation order from 2019.
At Bush Airport, however, The Daily Wire observed that the interactions between ICE agents and passengers were largely positive, with some shaking hands and expressing appreciation as they waited in long screening lines.
Some travelers said they expected to miss their flights, while others were attempting to travel again after being unable to get through security the previous day.
Houston traveler shakes an ICE officer’s hand and thanks him for his service. pic.twitter.com/kk1DyKwS2X
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 24, 2026
In response to The Daily Wire’s footage of the friendly ICE airport scenes, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) wrote on X that “Democrats want you to believe that ICE officers are monsters,” adding, “But in reality, they stepped up when Democrats wouldn’t do THEIR job and pay TSA Agents.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) called out the “radicals on the left” who have “demonized” ICE, saying, “the truth is they are hard-working Americans doing a job like you and me.”
ICE deployed to more than a dozen airports starting Monday, according to Reuters.
It appears they were only met with anti-ICE demonstrators at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where roughly 60 protesters shouted “ICE OUT” and “TRUMP PAY TSA WORKERS NOW,” according to Fox5 Atlanta.
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