By Vanguard Staff
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union is warning that a proposal by the Trump administration to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airport security checkpoints would mark an unprecedented escalation of federal immigration enforcement into civilian travel spaces.
According to the ACLU, President Donald Trump threatened over the weekend to send ICE agents to airports during a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, intensifying pressure on Congress amid an ongoing funding dispute.
The plan, confirmed by “border czar” Tom Homan, would place ICE agents in airports nationwide despite concerns raised by advocates about their lack of training in airport security procedures and prior allegations of misconduct, including excessive force.
The ACLU stated that if implemented, the move would represent the first time a president has deployed armed immigration agents to airports in place of trained security personnel, raising concerns about the potential to instill fear among travelers.
The partial DHS shutdown comes despite the agency having received $170 billion in additional funding last summer. According to the ACLU, Congress is withholding further funding while seeking reforms, including limits on racial profiling, enforceable accountability standards for agent misconduct, and requirements that federal agents identify themselves and remove face coverings.
The White House and congressional leadership have declined bipartisan proposals to fund the Transportation Security Administration and other DHS components separately while negotiations over immigration enforcement policies continue.
More than 410,000 people have joined an ACLU campaign urging members of Congress to reject additional funding for ICE and Border Patrol without significant reforms, according to the organization.
Public sentiment, the ACLU stated, is opposed to increasing funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies without accountability measures.
In response to the proposed deployment, Naureen Shah, director of policy and government affairs for immigration at the ACLU, criticized the administration’s approach.
“Never in our history has a president deployed armed agents to the airport to inspire fear among families,” Shah said. “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. 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.”
Shah also linked the proposal to the ongoing funding standoff.
“President Trump and his allies in Congress refused to fund TSA and manufactured a crisis at airports across the country,” she said. “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.”
She added that the administration’s approach runs counter to public demands for reform.
“This is the exact opposite of what the American people are clamoring for, which are real, enforceable changes to rein in ICE and Border Patrol’s cruel deportation and detention obsession,” Shah said.
The ACLU advised that individuals traveling domestically or internationally should be aware of their rights in light of the proposed policy.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
As Ice agents are positioned at several major airports today the reports are already filtering in that some TSA line waits are way down.