Federal immigration agents sent to U.S. airports to support security during budget impasse

By — Seung Min Kim, Associated Press Seung Min Kim, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Federal immigration agents sent to U.S. airports to support security during budget impasse Nation Mar 22, 2026 1:08 PM EDT WASHINGTON — Federal immigration agents newly ordered to U.S. airports by President Donald Trump to help relieve security line congestion may guard exit lanes or check passenger IDs as a budget impasse has air travelers frustrated over hourslong waits and screeners angry about missed paychecks. Trump made clear on Sunday, a day after saying he would use immigration officers for airport security starting Monday unless Democrats agreed on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, that he was going ahead with the plan to assist the Transportation Security Administration. READ MORE: Trump says he will order federal immigration officers to help with airport security unless Democrats end shutdown Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month. Democrats are demanding major changes in the conduct of federal immigration agents and showing no sign of backing down. White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead this effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group of senators in recent days over the partial shutdown and while he characterized those sessions as "good conversations," he said they were "not at a point yet where we're in total agreement." The Senate, convening in a rare weekend session, was expected to advance the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to be Trump's next homeland security secretary. A vote on the confirmation could come as early as late Monday as Mullin has tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump's first ...