Union TSA workers push back, demand pay as Trump admin floats plan to deploy ICE agents in airports Monday
After President Donald Trump threatened to deploy federal immigration agents to airports amid a Department of Homeland Security funding fight in Congress, union members in the Midwest are expressing concern about agents' lack of training and their own lack of pay.
A day after saying he would use immigration officers for airport security starting Monday unless Democrats agreed on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Trump made clear Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to assist the Transportation Security Administration.
Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month. Democrats are demanding major changes in the conduct of federal immigration agents.
White House border czar Tom Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased role of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at airports was subject to discussions with the leadership of TSA and ICE “to find out where we can fit in.” Immigration officers, as an example, could cover exits currently monitored by TSA agents, freeing them to work screening lines, or have ICE agents check identification before people enter screenings areas.
Homan promised “a plan by the end of today, where we’re sending — what airports we’re starting with and where we’re sending them."
DHS and ICE officials issued statements blaming Democrats for the "pointless, reckless" shutdown, and saying the Trump administration was trying to shorten security wait times in airports. Neither agency responded to questions about the timing of the deployment or role agents would take on.
The city of Chicago and its Department of Aviation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA agents and other federal workers in Illinois and Wisconsin, said with the agents’ deployment raises security concerns for passengers.
“Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” Kelley said in a statement. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
Darrell English, president of AFGE Local 777, said the danger also extends to the agents’ lack of training regarding aviation security. Adding ICE agents to the mix could slow the screening process for travelers, since they lack the seven months of training TSA agents go through before screening solo, according to English.
“It’s always concerning when you hear language like that in terms of changing the security that’s being implemented,” English said. “It leaves a hole... TSA understands the threat to aviation and the flying public, and it also takes years of understanding that to be efficient and secure.”
Responding to similar criticism, Homan said “certainly, a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit... Stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines.”
“ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already," Homan said "[But] I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that."
The vast majority of TSA employees are considered essential and have continued to work without pay during the funding lapse. Call-out rates have started to increase at some airports, and DHS said at least 376 have quit since the partial shutdown began Feb. 14.
The Senate rejected a motion by Democrats Saturday to take up legislation to fund the TSA. Republicans argue that they need to fund all parts of DHS.
If the funding fight doesn’t wrap up by Friday, it will make for the second missed paycheck for impacted federal workers. English said he was aware of several officers within Local 777 who left during the prolonged shutdown last year as well as during the most recent, though he didn’t have a specific count.
“If they can't take care of their family because of the financial issues with TSA, they're going to look for different avenues," English said, urging others to reach out to their federal elected officials about it. "These are years of training you’re losing when these veterans leave.”
It comes just about a year after the Trump administration first attempted to throw out the contract for the union’s, which covers 47,000 workers. The administration tried again in December.
It stemmed from a September memo from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, issued months after a federal judge blocked her earlier directive, saying TSA screeners “have a primary function of national security” and therefore should not engage in collective bargaining or be represented by a union.
That fight continues as the union awaits a court date on the second challenge to their contract, English said.
“This is the worst I've seen the conditions with TSA,” English said. “Not only have they not been paid and their collective bargaining rights challenged, but now they have to worry about other individuals that may be coming in to assist or replace them… If they get paid, they can do their job and there won’t be a need for outside assistance.”
Contributing: AP