WASHINGTON: US immigration agents began deploying at more than a dozen US airports on Monday to aid security screening as staffing absences by unpaid airport security officers have caused massive delays.
The Homeland Security Department confirmed it had begun deploying hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to assist in airport security at airports facing significant staffing issues. ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers were being deployed to around 14 airports including Atlanta, JFK in New York, New York LaGuardia, Newark, New Orleans, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Newark, Phoenix, and Fort Myers, according to officials and social media posts.
Separately, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson - the busiest US airport - told passengers to arrive at least four hours early on Monday for flights. Social media posts showed ICE agents standing near Transportation Security Administration officers who were checking IDs.
For now, ICE personnel will not be deployed in areas behind airport security checkpoints because they lack the specific clearance needed, sources told Reuters.
On Saturday, absences among the approximately 50,000 TSA security staff reached 11.5%, their highest since a partial government shutdown began five weeks ago.
At airports in Houston, New York and Atlanta, more than one-third of TSA staff were calling in sick or otherwise absent, DHS said, as the shutdown left tens of thousands working without pay while congressional Democrats and Republicans argue over the DHS budget.
Atlanta Mayor Andrew Dickens said federal officials had indicated that the ICE deployment would support TSA in crowd control and managing security lines in domestic terminals, and is “not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities”.
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