WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump may send the National Guard to assist ICE agents and TSA at airport security lines across the nation as travelers continue to face endless delays.
The president weighed in on the situation again on Wednesday in a Truth Social post thanking ICE agents for assisting at airports, and hinting at deploying the National Guard if necessary.
“Blame the Democrats for the Airport’s mess. They want our Country to do badly. They want our Country to fail,” the president wrote. “They broke the already signed Bill because they want to take care of Criminals who enter our Country illegally, rather than American citizens. Thank you to our great ICE Patriots for helping. It makes a big difference. I may call up the National Guard for more help.”
TSA could face another challenge even if the Department of Homeland Security shutdown ends: Retaining and recruiting agents.
TSA Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl told The Daily Wire that a tough road lies ahead as officers are currently working without pay, and roughly 480 have quit since the shutdown started, according to DHS. The department confirmed to The Daily Wire that there was an over 11% callout rate of agents nationwide on Tuesday, and the percentage was much higher at some major airports.
Although officers will receive back pay once the shutdown ends, Stahl noted that some officers are sleeping in their cars because they cannot afford gas to drive to work, while others are resorting to selling their blood to make ends meet.
“I can tell you, it’s not gonna be good,” Stahl said during a press conference at Reagan National Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
“The first shutdown, we saw an increase of 25% in attrition after the lapse of the first shutdown,” he added regarding the full federal government shutdown in the fall.
Stahl said that “this is gonna get worse” for TSA the longer it goes unfunded, adding that there will be “reverberations of this for a long time.” He said major upcoming events like the World Cup and regular summer travel could put an additional strain on air travel.
During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) scrutinized the decision by Trump to send ICE agents to airports, suggesting to Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill that the Trump administration believes that “untrained” ICE personnel “can do a better job than [TSA officers] can.”
“I’m extremely thankful to the president for recognizing the crisis we are in […] and the ICE agents that have shown up are there in support of the TSA mission and we’ve been spending time training them the last few days, and we’re seeing signs of relief, signs of early relief at the airports where we’re seeing long lines,” McNeill responded.
Stahl explained that ICE is assisting officers with “non-specialized support,” including helping with “exit lanes” and “general crowd control.”
“We’re grateful for their help, but they’re gonna help alleviate a lot of the burden off of our officers, so our officers can focus on more specialized screening functions, like baggage review, x-ray interpretation, things like that,” he continued.
In terms of getting officers to show up to work now, Stahl said that they are doing “everything [they] possibly can to get them to come work.”
“The overwhelming majority of TSA officers are coming in every single day, despite not getting paid,” he said, expressing appreciation for those who are showing up despite the circumstances.
He added that they have “received tremendous support from private donors” and from the public, as some airports have encouraged people to donate gas and grocery gift cards to help officers financially.
Negotiations continue between Congress and the White House as of Wednesday, with Democrats wanting to ultimately reform federal immigration enforcement policies. However, other agencies, including TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard, have been caught in the crosshairs, as they fall under the DHS umbrella.
“ICE needs to leave the airports NOW. Trump needs to pay TSA workers NOW, and push Republicans to reach a deal. No intimidation forces at our airports. No more chaos at checkpoints. Enough is enough,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on Tuesday.
Senate Democrats have also blamed Republicans for shooting down efforts from Schumer that would only pay TSA agents, but would have left other personnel across DHS high and dry.
“Republicans have now blocked TSA funding nine times in three weeks. Donald Trump’s obstruction is denying TSA workers pay and creating havoc at airports. Republicans must stop blocking TSA funding immediately,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said in a Tuesday statement.
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