Trump says he will send ICE agents to airports if TSA funding stalls [View all]

Source: USA Today.

Updated March 21, 2026, 12:37 p.m. ET


President Donald Trump said March 21 that he will order Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to do security at U.S. airports unless Congress strikes an agreement for funding TSA airport security officers "immediately."

Trump said in a social media post that he would have the ICE agents not only providing security at airports, but also arresting people who have entered the U.S. without authorization.

"I look forward to seeing ICE in action at our Airports. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" the president posted.

In the past month, about 50,000 TSA airport security employees have been forced to work without pay, as a result of a partial government shutdown.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/21/trump-tsa-shutdown-ice-agents/89262474007/

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He obviously has ZERO idea about what CBP does, part of which is to screen people entering the country "for their papers".

TSA doesn't do that, CUSTOMS does. And CBP employees aren't getting paid either.