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ICE heads to the airport

Airport delays are spreading. Trump wants ICE agents to fix it.

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.

Welcome to The Logoff: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are deploying to US airports as a Homeland Security funding lapse stretches on.

What’s happening? Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced his plan to send ICE agents into major US airports, starting Monday, in response to ballooning security lines and delays. Agents reportedly deployed to around 14 airports to start the week, including Newark, New Jersey; Chicago O’Hare; and Atlanta.

ICE agents are not likely to be helping directly with screening lines, according to Trump “border czar” Tom Homan, who told CNN that agents would “make sure people don’t go through those exits, enter an airport through the exits and stuff like that,” in hopes of freeing up TSA agents to screen passengers.

As of Monday, some airports have continued to report multi-hour security lines. Immigration agents also arrested at least one person at the San Francisco airport on Sunday.

What’s the context? Much of the Department of Homeland Security is shut down, but ICE and CBP — flush with money from Trump’s 2025 reconciliation package — are still operating.

So is TSA, whose employees are considered essential. But unlike ICE, TSA officers aren’t getting paid — and as the shutdown stretches on, more and more are calling in sick or quitting outright.

How Trump transformed ICE, in two charts

How does this end? To get TSA back on the job in full force and airport delays back to normal, Congress needs to pass a bill funding the agency (and the rest of DHS). Funding lapsed last month after lawmakers reached an impasse over new accountability measures for ICE.

It’s not clear when that will happen, though, as Trump has reportedly rebuffed a Republican plan to fund the rest of DHS — including TSA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — while leaving ICE by the wayside for the time being.

On Monday, Trump said instead that he could “bring in the National Guard” if ICE agents are unable to fix airport delays.

The email you need to stay informed about Trump — without letting the news take over your life.

And with that, it’s time to log off…

I am reliably informed that today is World Bear Day, which we here at The Logoff enthusiastically endorse. To celebrate, here’s a fun article from Scientific American: Why are bears friend-shaped?

As always, thanks for reading, have a great evening, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

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