WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump’s decision to to help with security during a budget impasse is drawing concerns that their presence may escalate tensions among air travelers frustrated over hourslong waits and screeners angry about missed paychecks.
Trump made clear on Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to have immigration enforcement officers assist the Transportation Security Administration by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund the . Democrats are demanding major changes to federal immigration operations and showing no sign of backing down.
, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have since last month.
鈥淏ad idea,鈥� said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the new airport security plan, which Trump said would start Monday.
“What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need to get the TSA agents paid,鈥� she told reporters at the Capitol, where the Senate held a rare weekend session. 鈥淒o you really want to have even additional tensions on top of what we are already facing?鈥�
Senators advanced the nomination of Sen. , R-Okla., to be Trump鈥檚 next homeland security secretary by a largely party-line vote, 54-37, with two Democrats joining most Republicans. A vote on the confirmation could come as early as Monday. Mullin has that he would be a steady hand of Kristi Noem, Trump鈥檚 first DHS secretary.
Border czar heads up airport security effort
White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new airport security effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group of senators over the partial shutdown. While he characterized those sessions as 鈥済ood conversations,鈥� he said they were 鈥渘ot at a point yet where we鈥檙e in total agreement.鈥�
Meanwhile, Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at airports 鈥� its specific duties and numbers 鈥� was subject to discussions with the leadership of TSA and ICE. DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said 鈥渉undreds鈥� of ICE officers would be deployed, but she would not disclose the airports where they would go, citing security reasons.
“It鈥檚 a work in progress,鈥� Homan said. The priority, he said, was 鈥渢he large airports where there鈥檚 a long wait, like three hours.鈥�
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued a statement Sunday night saying officers from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations would be deployed to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport starting Monday morning.
At the airport on Sunday, some travelers waited in line for nearly six hours at the main security checkpoint, where only two TSA agents were on hand midafternoon to check IDs. Many missed their flights and scrambled to book later flights or add themselves to standby lists that were already dozens of names long.
Dickens said all federal personnel would report to TSA and be assigned tasks such as line management and crowd control. 鈥淔ederal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities,鈥� his statement said.
Homan said immigration officers, as an example, could cover exits currently monitored by TSA agents, freeing them to work screening lines. Another option, he said, was having ICE agents check identification before people enter screenings areas.
“We鈥檙e going to be a force multiplier,鈥� Homan said, while also acknowledging there were limits.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we鈥檙e not trained in that,鈥� he said. He pledged to have 鈥渁 plan by the end of today, where we鈥檙e sending — what airports we鈥檙e starting with and where we鈥檙e sending them.鈥�
But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, condemned Trump鈥檚 plan, saying in a statement that ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security.
鈥淥ur members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,鈥� Kelley said Sunday. 鈥淭hey deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.鈥�
Budget talks stall as airport worries worsen
Democrats have said they are willing to fund TSA and most other parts of DHS as they press for changes to immigration operations after the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation. ICE officers are largely being paid during the partial shutdown, thanks to an influx of cash from Trump鈥檚 big tax breaks bill last year.
鈥淭here are lots of ideas swirling right now,鈥� said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 鈥淭he good news in all that is people realizing this has to get fixed, it has to get solved.鈥�
As budget talks stayed behind closed doors Sunday, senators said they had few details of which airports or how many immigration officers were being dispatched. Some welcomed the effort.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it can hurt,鈥� said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. 鈥淭hey can help relieve some of the pressure.”
Trump said in a social media post that on Monday, 鈥淚CE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job” despite the partial government shutdown. He further criticized Democrats.
Travelers at some airports worried about reaching their gates Sunday.
At Atlanta鈥檚 airport, lines wrapped from one end of the airport to the other.
The scene appeared more chaotic at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Large crowds of anxious travelers piled toward security checkpoints, and TSA staff shouted through megaphones to tell people not to push one another.
For Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, one concern is the uncertainty that passengers are facing over possible wait times at any airport on any given day.
鈥淒o I have to come an hour and a half early? Do I have to come four hours early? They don鈥檛 know until the day of or the afternoon of their flight,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o if we can alleviate that, again, the president wants to take away that leverage point for Democrats and make travel easier for the American people.鈥�
Homan appeared on CNN’s 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥� and 鈥淔ox 草莓传媒 Sunday,鈥� while Duffy was interviewed on ABC’s 鈥淭his Week.’ ___
Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in West Palm Beach, Fla., Anthony Izaguirre in Lindenhurst, N.Y., Yuki Iwamura in New York, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Margery Beck in Omaha, Neb. and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.
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