ICE Could Stay at Some Airports After T.S.A. Pay Resumes, Homan Says

ICE deployment at airports may continue

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could remain at U.S. airports even after Transportation Security Administration employees begin receiving pay again, according to Tom Homan, the White House’s border czar.

Homan said Sunday that the decision would depend on how many T.S.A. officers return to work after the disruption caused by the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. He said he was working with the T.S.A. administrator and the ICE director to determine which airports still need additional personnel.

In a separate television appearance, Homan said ICE agents would stay until airports feel they are operating normally again.

Staffing shortages after shutdown

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to pay T.S.A. employees while Congress remains at an impasse over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Department officials have said about 50,000 T.S.A. officers should receive paychecks as early as Monday.

Even so, the staffing problems affecting airport security operations may not be resolved immediately. A department spokeswoman said last week that more than 500 employees had quit. She also said that on Friday, more than 3,560 employees — over 12 percent of the agency’s work force — called in sick.

Those shortages contributed to long airport security lines, with wait times stretching for hours at some airports.

Debate over ICE role

Homan said on CNN that wait times had decreased since ICE agents arrived and said they were helping with identification checks and “plugging the security holes.”

But the exact role of ICE personnel at airports has remained unclear. The head of a union representing T.S.A. officers said last week that ICE agents were “just getting in the way.” Critics have also said ICE personnel at some airports were not performing tasks that would reduce the burden on T.S.A. officers, but were instead patrolling halls or standing at checkpoints.