ICE agents, six-hour waits and frustration: The current airport situation

TSA checkpoints around the country are estimating hours-long wait times — more than three hours in Houston — as a partial government shutdown strangles America’s airports. However, these wait times are lightning fast compared to the up to six hours some waited just a day earlier. 

Extreme wait times aren’t the only new addition at airports. Travelers have also reported armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents patrolling multiple airports, with one report of ICE agents arresting a woman and a young girl traveling with her. Airport officials confirmed the arrest but said it was not due to President Donald Trump’s recent order directing ICE agents to assist TSA officials.

Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.

Point phone camera here

Trump used the deployment of ICE agents into 14 airports as a threat against Democrats who are against funding the Department of Homeland Security, which entered its sixth week on Monday. Democrats said that they would not approve funding for DHS unless lawmakers placed new guardrails on agents following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. 

TSA agents, whom DHS oversees, haven’t been paid since then. At least 400 have quit and thousands more have called out since the shutdown began. 

The decision to send ICE agents to assist with airport TSA duties was met with criticism by Democrats and former TSA leadership. Former TSA Administrator John Pistole told Axios that, while ICE agents could legally assist with security operations, he said that it “doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.” 

“If I’m getting on a flight tomorrow, I want to know that the people doing the screening are qualified, that it’s not their first day on the job,” Pistole told Axios.

What is ICE doing at the airports? 

Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, told CNN that agents are covering security entrances and exits and would help with bag screenings. However, he said they would not conduct X-ray scans. 

“You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit. Make sure people don’t go through those exits, enter an airport through the exits and stuff like that, relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines,” Homan told CNN.

Local news stations in Atlanta reported ICE agents were seen walking around the terminal and observing crowds, not assisting with screenings or security entrances. One Atlanta traveler, Michael Montisano, told Atlanta News First that he didn’t believe ICE was improving the situation, but he didn’t think they would. 

“They’re here, they’re not helping. But I didn’t expect them to either — it’s not their job,” Montisano said. “You can’t expect them to help people through, they’re not trained in it.”

While Homan emphasized that ICE would only help with security checks, he did say they could make arrests if they saw criminal activity.

“If they see criminal activity, just like a law enforcement officer, they should take action,” Homan said, according to CBS News. 

At least one video of plainclothed ICE agents detaining a woman and a child was posted on social media Sunday evening. The video was taken at the San Francisco International Airport. Officials with the airport confirmed that ICE arrested two people, but said Trump did not send ICE agents to the airport and that this was unrelated. 

Chaos erupts at San Francisco International Airport pic.twitter.com/Ug2WLvFtt8

— Surajit (@surajit_ghosh2) March 23, 2026

One difference between previous ICE deployments is the lack of masks. On Monday, Trump told reporters he requested they remove their masks during airport deployments, Al Jazeera reports. 

“I don’t like it for the airport, and I believe they are willing to do that,” he said.

Are airports still safe?

Some view ICE’s involvement with air travel as potentially dangerous. Darrell English, the president of the Chicago chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, said TSA agents have months of training. 

“It’s always concerning when you hear language like that in terms of changing the security that’s being implemented,” English told the Chicago Sun-Times. “TSA understands the threat to aviation and the flying public, and it also takes years of understanding that to be efficient and secure.” 

The war in Iran is also putting TSA more on edge since the potential for terror attacks is greater. The Flight Attendant Union called the White House’s ICE deployment a “dangerous game” in a statement released Sunday. 

“Flight Attendants will not allow the TSA and the frontline Transportation Security Officers who keep us safe to be used as pawns in this dangerous game, nor will we fly in an aviation system that doesn’t put our safety and security first,” the union said. “Pay the people who are already trained to protect us from terror attacks today, especially as the war with Iran increases the desire to strike against Americans.”

The anxiety before travelers even get to the gate isn’t helping America’s fear of flying. According to a January YouGov survey conducted with The Points Guy, only 21% of respondents said they had no fear of flying. Sixteen percent said flying made them very nervous. Last year, airlines said flying anxiety partly contributed to a decline in sales. 

However, even with two high-profile airline incidents last year, security-check issues, and now ICE deployments, experts say flying is still the safest option despite the headaches. “It is important to remember that accidents are extremely rare,” International Air Transport Association’s Director General Willie Walsh said. “Moreover, the long-term story of aviation safety is one of continuous improvement. A decade ago, the five-year average was one accident for every 456,000 flights. Today, the five-year average is one accident for every 810,000 flights.”