New York politicians and immigration advocates reacted after President Donald Trump and border chief Tom Homan announced that ICE agents will help the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) starting Monday, in the face of increasing congestion at airports.
In an interview on CNN, Homan confirmed that Trump’s order to send ICE to US airports during the partial government shutdown to support the understaffed TSA was not an empty threat; In fact, it’s the plan. Homan explained that immigration agents will not perform screenings, such as using X-rays, but will be used as security personnel.
“We do immigration enforcement at airports all the time. So this is not going to change,” Homan said.
The statement comes as images of long lines of travelers flood the media and social networks, and TSA workers struggle to handle the volume of passengers. Amid the government’s funding stalemate, which leaves TSA and customs workers without pay until a budget is approved, up to 10% of employees called in sick on Friday alone, down from the typical 2%, the transportation agency reported.
Still, Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees and leader of the TSA union, condemned the decision to supplement the workers it represents with ICE agents, calling it “dangerous.”
“More than 50,000 TSA employees have worked without pay for more than five weeks. Hundreds have quit. And Washington’s response is not to pay them, but to send ICE agents to do their jobs,” Kelley said. “Our TSA members show up every day, without pay, because they believe in the mission of keeping travelers safe. They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained armed agents who have proven how dangerous they can be.”
Meanwhile, in New York, given the proximity of the deployment of ICE in airports, the Port Authority assured that it will monitor the situation closely and hopes that the agents deployed are properly trained.
“The Port Authority continues to closely monitor the personnel impacts of TSA screening, which contribute to extended wait times at our airports. Decisions regarding the deployment and use of federal personnel, including ICE officers, rest with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Port Authority expects that any personnel assigned to assist with passenger processing functions will be appropriately trained and focused on supporting screening operations, ensuring the security, integrity and efficiency of the process at our airports and protecting to the traveling public,” a spokesperson said.
New York immigration advocates furious at ICE escalation
Father Fabian Arias, who works at Saint Peter’s Church in Midtown helping people detained by ICE, told our sister publication, amNewYork, that he is not surprised by Trump’s plan, and that he considers it another way to generate fear.
“We are operating within the context of a fascist administration, where persecution—and fundamentally, lack of respect for the constitutional rights of the people who live on this land—is the norm,” Arias said. “These systems at airports remain an integral part of this plan. A plan specifically aimed at instilling fear and panic.”
Several New York elected officials also spoke to amNewYork, anticipating disastrous consequences both economic and human.
“I know we will see a profound impact on our economy, but the most important thing is the human impact: even people with documentation will avoid traveling; even American citizens like me will probably refuse to travel because they do not want to interact with an agency that we consider dangerous,” said Assemblywoman Diana Moreno. “We’ve already seen this agency kill—and I mean kill, not just on the streets, but through negligence. More than a dozen people have died in detention this year.”
These comments came during an unrelated demonstration, in which participants demanded the passage of several laws to strengthen the rights of immigrants, including the New York for All Act. While protesters sought to stop local police from collaborating with ICE and protested deaths in their custody, the threat of further escalation remained latent.
After the demonstration, Councilwoman Alexa Avilés, chair of the Council’s Immigration Committee, spoke with amNewYork about the TSA decision:
“Just when I think this administration can’t sink any lower, it just does. Having ICE agents at TSA or at any point of entry to replace workers and expand the network to harm people is repugnant. I’m not surprised, but our message is that we will fight for our people and make sure they don’t get caught up in this web of harm and cruelty that Trump continues to spread across the country,” Aviles said. “This is a seditious agency that does not follow the laws and that enjoys abusing people.”
amNewYork reached out to the governor’s office and the mayor’s office for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Reactions from Republican and Democratic politicians
As New York elected officials denounced the move, Vice President JD Vance accused Democrats of holding DHS funds hostage.
“We’ve all seen the chaos Democrats have created at the nation’s airports. It’s absurd that Chuck Schumer continues to withhold TSA funding,” Vance wrote in
Senator Chuck Schumer responded in his own post:
“Untrained ICE agents at our airports is an invitation to trouble. It will only make the chaos at the airports worse,” he wrote on X.
-Additional reporting by Barbara Russo and Florencia Arozarena
