By Allison Pohle, Anvee Bhutani and Jennifer Calfas
President Trump said he would move Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to airports starting Monday if Democrats don't support an agreement to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The funding impasse has resulted in hourslong security lines at some airports during the spring-break travel period as Transportation Security Administration officers have quit or called off from work. If Congress doesn't agree on DHS funding by March 27 and leaves for a scheduled two-week recess, TSA officers are set to miss more than a month of paychecks.
If a deal isn't reached, Trump wrote Saturday in a social-media post, "I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday." ICE agents at airports would do "Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country," he wrote in another post.
It wasn't immediately clear what type of security ICE would provide. Trump said Saturday that ICE agents would have a "heavy emphasis on those from Somalia," a community the president has targeted in Minnesota following fraud allegations against some residents of Somali descent. In a social-media post Sunday, Trump said "ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents."
White House border czar Tom Homan, who Trump said was in charge of the effort, said Sunday that ICE personnel could perform airport-security tasks that don't require specialized training. He said ICE agents could monitor exit lanes to make sure people don't enter through them, or check identification before passengers enter the screening area. "We're trying to release TSA resources to get to positions that they really need expertise in, like the X-ray screening," Homan told Fox News.
A plan would be worked out by the end of the day, Homan told CNN on Sunday.
Funding for DHS, of which the TSA is a part, has been held up by a fight between Republicans and Democrats over immigration enforcement. Congress has held several votes on restoring funding and plans more, but the prospects for a deal look dim. While ICE is also part of the department, the agency has access to funds from a separate law passed last year.
Republicans could end the standoff and support TSA workers by voting for Democrats' proposal to restore funding to TSA specifically, Democratic senators including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) have said.
On Saturday, Schumer used a procedural maneuver to try to force a vote on funding the TSA, but Republicans blocked the move.
GOP senators, meanwhile, have led efforts to fund all of DHS, which Democrats have stopped.
"The rank and file who work for TSA have nothing to do with the process, and yet they're the ones without a paycheck," Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) said recently.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) said he would cancel the coming Senate recess if the two sides can't reach a deal.
TSA workers are a linchpin of U.S. airport security, scanning travelers and their bags before they can head to their gates. Pay varies by location, though the mean annual wage was $61,800 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As the weeks pass without paychecks, officer absences have slowed security checks at airports across the U.S. Some lines have taken travelers hours to pass.
Underscoring the concerns about the backups at airports, billionaire Elon Musk posted on X on Saturday offering to pay TSA workers during the funding impasse. It wasn't immediately clear how Musk planned to do that.
Many officers have been struggling to afford rent, utilities and other expenses, said several officers and their union.
If TSA workers go without another paycheck, "I don't know how many people are actually going to be able to make it into work," said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer for the American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100, which represents the officers.
Some officers have sold plasma, delivered groceries and driven for ride-hailing services to get money to pay bills, according to the union.
An officer in Florida said he is planning to quit and take another security job if March 27 comes and goes without a funding deal, because he can't afford to go longer without pay. His bank account is already $500 short, the officer said, and his utility company has threatened to shut off his power next month if he doesn't pay his overdue bills before then.
Federal law prohibits TSA workers from striking. In addition, the agency has made it harder for officers to call in sick, said workers and union officials. In the past, officers didn't need a doctor's note until they had been sick for three days. Now, a note is required on day one, said the workers and union officials. Otherwise, they may not be able to get back pay for those days.
Officers at two airports said that their managers encouraged them to take out a loan from their federal-worker retirement plan, but that they are reluctant to do so because they would lose out on any earnings and would need to repay the loans with interest.
Instead, some cash-strapped officers have been taking other steps. Since DHS funding lapsed in mid-February, about 375 officers have quit, the department said. Others have called in sick, with some airports reporting absence rates approaching 40%.
Airports have tried to help. The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has a food pantry for TSA workers, while the Orlando, Fla., airport has encouraged passengers to contribute to its food drive.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where nearly 40% of officers called in sick on Wednesday, has provided TSA officers with vouchers for one meal a shift. It is also covering parking costs, said Ricky Smith, airport general manager.
Some passengers have given gift cards to TSA supervisors, but few workers usually get one because there aren't enough to go around, Jones said.
The timing for an increase in TSA officer absences would coincide with a major travel period. More than 40% of U.S. schools will have spring break the week of March 29, according to MDR Education, which is focused on K-12 schools.
Write to Allison Pohle at allison.pohle@wsj.com and Anvee Bhutani at anvee.bhutani@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 22, 2026 11:49 ET (15:49 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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