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Federal immigration officers have been seen at several U.S. airports on Monday after the Trump administration said it would deploy ICE agents to ease security lines amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.
The shutdown, which began on February 14, has resulted in long lines at airport pre-gate security checkpoints, typically handled by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. Since the shutdown, hundreds of thousands of agents under the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, have worked without pay since Congress failed to pass new funding.
Democrats are calling for changes to federal immigration operations after reports of abuse by agents, including the killing of two U.S. citizens earlier this year.
In recent days, travelers have filmed lines with wait times estimated at several hours. Trump border czar Tom Homan told CNN that ICE agents would be deployed starting Monday to airports with the longest wait times. Homan said details of the plan were still under discussion.
Critics say having ICE agents at airports would increase tensions with travelers.
Federal agents have been seen making at least one arrest at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday night, according to eyewitness accounts. One video posted to TikTok shows unidentified, plain-clothed agents declining to identify themselves as they detain a person, including a child, past the security line at a terminal gate. A video posted to Reddit shows the agents detaining a person from another angle. TechCrunch has contacted the poster.
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately return a request for comment about the arrest.
According to reporters with the Associated Press, ICE agents have also been seen at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The Guardian reports ICE was seen at airports in Newark, New Orleans, and New York’s John F. Kennedy. CNN reports that Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, and San Juan are among the airports where ICE has been deployed.
ICE is known to use a wide variety of tools to identify and target individuals, including facial recognition apps and phone-unlocking tools to break into people’s devices. ICE agents also use location data, obtained from people’s phone apps and games, to monitor people’s whereabouts.
