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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will begin assisting with airport screening as the DHS-funding shutdown continues.
The emergency measure was announced by President Trump in a post on Truth Social, on Saturday.
“If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote.
In a follow-up post, he added, “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!”
President Trump gave no indication of which airports would receive help from ICE.
The announcement came a day after the Senate failed, for the fifth time, to advance a funding bill that would allow Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers to begin being paid again.
Eighty-four Senators appeared in the chamber to vote.
The vote failed to clear a 60-vote threshold or even a simple majority.
Forty-six Republicans were joined by Democrat John Fetterman to vote in favor of funding DHS, while 37 Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, said no.
“My impression, at least up until now, is this is all about politics for Chuck Schumer and the Democrats,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after the vote.
“The far-left base is demanding, again, that they fight the president.”
The DHS shutdown has now lasted 35 days, and politicians from both sides agree on one thing: they’re a long way from agreement yet.
Large numbers of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have now begun calling in sick or quitting as they continue to go unpaid.
Around 10% of staff are currently off the job nationwide. At JFK, New York, the figure is close to 30%.
On Saturday, billionaire Elon Musk offered to help pay TSA workers.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk said in an X post.
