Federal immigration agents were deployed to airports across the country on Monday.
Trump on Friday made a series of social media posts noting his plan to put ICE agents in airports if the congressional battle over DHS funding continued. The Senate failed to come to a consensus this weekend and Trump responded that ICE would be deployed on Monday.
“I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” Trump posted.
Democrats have been unwavering in their refusal to fund DHS unless changes are made to immigration enforcement. In the wake of two fatal shootings of Americans by ICE agents in Minnesota, Democrats are demanding better identification for officers, an enhanced code of conduct for the agencies and increased use of judicial warrants, among other things.
On Saturday, Trump said ICE agents that are deployed to airports would be arresting immigrants from Somalia who are illegally in the country. He also said that Somalis “destroyed” Minnesota.
“If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before,” he said.
The partial government shutdown has left TSA employees without paychecks since mid-February. According to DHS, at least 376 TSA agents have quit and call-out rates have increased. Trump signed a bill to temporarily fund DHS for two weeks in early February, but since then, lawmakers have been deadlocked.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted against a Democratic measure to reopen TSA and pay workers, arguing that all of DHS must be funded.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said that the Democrats and the administration should compromise in the wake of extended wait times at TSA checkpoints.
“If that group that’s meeting can’t come up with a solution really quickly, things are going to get worse and worse,” he said.
