Fil-Am mayor, other officials denounce deployment of ICE to US airports

SAN DIEGO – Federal immigration officers have arrived at US airports, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s pledge to deploy them to help the Transportation Security Administration during a partial government shutdown.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other officials have criticized the deployment, saying it was the wrong approach to addressing TSA staffing shortages and the long lines at security checkpoints across the country.

Sponsored

Federal immigration agents are seen at Newark Liberty International Airport, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

“ICE agents are not trained for aviation security and inserting them into that environment presents real risks to public safety and public trust,” Gloria said.  “The presence – or even the threat – of untrained federal agents at airport checkpoints will only serve to further disrupt air travel and put passengers, workers, and our communities at risk.”

‘A failure in Washington’

The Filipino American mayor said the situation is the result of “a failure in Washington” and the prolonged funding impasse has left TSA short-staffed at a critical time.

Federal immigration agents walk through Terminal 5 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in the Queens borough of New York, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

“Instead of improvising with untrained personnel, federal leaders should fund TSA now and continue negotiations on immigration policy separately,” he said. “Our airports — and the people who rely on them — deserve real solutions.”

Other local officials balked at the Trump administration’s announcement about the ICE deployment, including a top TSA official at San Diego International Airport.

People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Sponsored

“I have no idea how they can contribute at an airport unless it was for intimidation purposes,” Aaron Vazquez, a TSA lead transportation security officer at SAN and assistant airport steward for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1260 in San Diego, told City News Service on Sunday.

“What are they going to do, find somebody and shoot them?”

TSA ‘trained to be nice to passengers’

Vazquez said his job is to make sure travelers are not a threat to security, which has nothing to do with immigration enforcement. “I don’t want them anywhere near the checkpoint and officers that I’m in charge of. I don’t want them interfering with what the officers are trying to do,” Vazquez told CNS.

“I don’t need an ICE agent telling passengers what to do. We are trained to be nice to passengers. They are law enforcement so they are armed. TSA is not,” he added.

City Councilwoman and Airport Authority Board Member Marni von Wilpert also objected to the idea.

‘More chaotic’

“ICE’s aggressive, abusive conduct makes us less safe. Putting ICE in our airports will make travel more chaotic, more stressful, and less secure — not better,” she said. “ICE has already shown it refuses to follow the law and respect our communities — so I’m deeply concerned about what this deployment will mean for San Diego travelers and the thousands of workers at San Diego International Airport.

“… The solution to long security lines and airport delays is simple: Congress needs to properly fund and staff TSA now,” von Wilpert added. “.. I have been in touch with San Diego Airport Authority staff and legal counsel. We do not yet know the full scope of ICE’s plans at the airport, but we are working to get answers and minimize disruption and anxiety for travelers and our workforce.”

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Poway, posted a photo of long lines at the airport on Sunday with the following message: “View from the San Diego airport at 6:30 this morning. It doesn’t have to be like this. I have a bill to pay TSA workers, Coast Guard and emergency management without adding more to ICE and Border Patrol. Easy, right?

But Trump won’t allow it. As the DHS shutdown drags into nearly 40 days, federal workers and travelers shouldn’t have to suffer from Republican inaction.”

On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would order ICE agents to assist with airport security if Congress did not immediately reach an agreement to fund TSA officers.

Immigration arrests at airports

In a social media post, Trump said ICE agents could also be tasked with making immigration arrests at airports. “If the radical left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our country, in particular, our airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE agents to the airports where they will do security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The proposal comes as a partial government shutdown has left roughly 50,000 TSA employees working without pay, contributing to increased absenteeism and staffing shortages at airports nationwide. (With CNS and AP reports)

The post Fil-Am mayor, other officials denounce deployment of ICE to US airports appeared first on USNewsRank.