ICE Agents Deployed to US Airports: What to Know

by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:50 AM ET, Mon March 23, 2026

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed to airports across the country on Monday, March 23 in an unprecedented move by the Trump Administration as TSA officers continue to work without pay and callouts increasingly worsen security checkpoint lines.

According to the New York Times, ICE officers had entered Newark Liberty International Airport around 6:00 a.m., with a reporter noting that a four-member patrol was seen wearing “ICE” vests and strolling down Terminal C. While they declined to answer questions, the reporter noted that they did not appear to have weapons, and neither did they wear masks, as they have taken to doing.

Many news outlets have also identified Atlanta’s international airport as one of the first airports to which ICE agents would be deployed.

ICE personnel are planning to appear at 14 airports around the nation, including JFK and La Guardia, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston and Phoenix.

President Trump floated the idea this weekend, and his border czar, Tom Homan, confirmed on Sunday that ICE agents would be deployed on March 23.

“We're simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don't need their specialized expertise, such as, you know, screening through the x-ray machine, not trained on that, we won't do that," said White House Border Czar Tom Homan on CNN's "State of the Union." "But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant role, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker."

Organizations have been quick to respond to the situation, calling it political retribution.

Naureen Shah, director of policy and government affairs for immigration at the ACLU issued this statement: “Never in our history has a president deployed armed agents to the airport to inspire fear among families. The American people don’t want to live in White House advisor Stephen Miller’s dystopian police state. ICE and other federal agents have already shown the cost to us all when the president deploys them on his whim to act as a domestic policing force.

“Alex Pretti, Renee Good, Keith Porter Jr., Ruben Ray Martinez, and thousands of protestors, journalists, and people across the country have endured the brunt of lawless agents,” Shah continued. “America’s families travelling to see loved ones should not have to deal with ICE agents who likely have no training or experience with the mission of airport security.

“President Trump and his allies in Congress refused to fund TSA and manufactured a crisis at airports across the country. Now, the president apparently wants to use ICE as his private security force, reminding all of us that ICE is not retreating from lawlessness but assigned at will by the president for political retribution.”

Unions have disapproved of the move, encouraging the government to pay the 50,000-some TSA officers to do their jobs instead of replacing them with ICE.

The American Federation of Government Employees also chose to stand by TSA officers. “Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” said Everett Kelley, the union’s president, on Sunday. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”

The Association of Flight Attendants is also standing with the TSA officers, saying in a statement, “This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans. TSOs can’t simply be replaced…This is expertise and training that ICE agents simply do not have, and cannot learn quickly. Furthermore, the introduction of ICE agents into airports creates contradictory missions, as attempts to question passengers about immigration status may distract them from ensuring airport security. There’s one solution that immediately solves the problem at our airports. 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.”

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