by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:50 AM ET, Fri April 10, 2026
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have begun leaving some U.S. airports after they’d been ordered to assist Transportation Security Administration officers in managing long lines since March 23.
According to CNN, ICE agents began leaving the 14 airports they were deployed to as early as early April, following President Trump’s executive order that required the Department of Homeland Security to begin paying TSA officers after what became the longest partial government shutdown in American history.
The deployment of ICE to American airports, according to the Trump Administration, was a required step to manage hours-long TSA security checkpoint lines caused by officers calling out to make money as the shutdown, which impacted only some departments of the DHS, extended beyond a month.
ICE agents, though not able to completely fill in for TSA officers, having different training, handed out water bottles to those standing in line, managed crowds and checked identifications at the beginning of checkpoints.
Unlike when they’ve been deployed to cities around the country, ICE agents deployed to U.S. airports did not wear masks.
The measure was condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union and the government employees’ union that represents TSA officers, who made the case that it would be a simpler solution to start paying TSA officers rather than replace them with people who are untrained to do TSA tasks.
Philadelphia International Airport’s interim CEO and CFO, Tracy Borda, told journalists that ICE would be out of the airport starting April 9: “The good news is, we’re at a point where we’re told that as of (Thursday), we won’t have any more ICE officers at the airport. They should be gone. There may be other parts of the country that are still seeing lines. We’re not sure.”
Borda told journalists there were no issues with ICE being deployed to the airport, either with passengers or with the airport’s 17,000 employees.
The airports in Phoenix, Cleveland and Pittsburgh have all reported that ICE has left. Others do not seem to know when the ICE agents deployed to their airport will leave.
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