What is ICE actually doing at American airports? | The Verge
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ICE is supposed to be helping TSA at American airports. I didn’t see that at JFK.
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ICE is supposed to be helping TSA at American airports. I didn’t see that at JFK.
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I arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport nearly five hours before my domestic flight. This is not my way — usually I roll up to the airport 30 minutes before boarding — but not even I have enough hubris to think that my good luck is more powerful than a partial government shutdown. Congress has yet to pass a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, meaning thousands of federal employees from TSA to the Coast Guard are working without pay — or, in the case of TSA, calling out of work, causing staff shortages and hourslong security lines at airports across the country.
On Monday, President Donald Trump deployed between 100 and 150 ICE agents to several airports to, he claimed, manage these growing, impatient crowds and alleviate wait times. Almost immediately after the fact, a video began circulating of ICE agents tackling a woman to the ground at San Francisco International Airport. The video had been taken one day before ICE’s deployment, and it’s unclear whether the agents were at SFO at the president’s direction or whether they were looking for that woman in particular. Still, the presence of armed federal agents who are notorious for carrying out violent arrests prowling through airports made people uneasy. It made me uneasy to see them at JFK the day they were deployed.
The effects of the ongoing DHS shutdown are most palpable at airports. The shutdown began on February 14th, after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for DHS. Democrats have refused to fund DHS unless Congress implements a number of reforms, including prohibiting agents from wearing masks and requiring them to wear badges or clothing that identifies them as law enforcement. Though ICE and Customs and Border Protection are at the center of these negotiations, both agencies have continued operations unabated by the funding lapse, thanks to the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which gave the agencies a combined
I saw ICE immediately after arriving at JFK’s Terminal 4. Four agents stood in a tight circle outside the Delta Sky Priority check-in area. They didn’t seem to be managing the crowd or doing much of anything at all. Their vests identified them as ERO: Enforcement and Removal Operations, the division that carries out immigration arrests and raids. As I made my way to the TSA line — wait time: one hour and counting — I saw two more agents standing idly in a corner.
Despite the crowd, I had plenty of time to check out the ICE presence at JFK’s other terminals. I saw the same thing in each one: ICE agents, sometimes from ERO and sometimes from other divisions, gathered together near the check-in area. Sometimes a pair would break off and walk around. They weren’t violently arresting anyone, but they also weren’t helping manage the crowds, which is ostensibly why they had been dispatched to JFK and other airports in the first place.
I saw six ERO agents at Terminal 5 huddled around a coffee stand near the entrance. I made my way to Terminal 7, the oldest and smallest at JFK, and saw ICE before I even walked inside. These agents were with Homeland Security Investigations, the unit typically tasked with investigating terrorism, child sexual abuse, human smuggling, and international financial crimes, which under Trump has had its resources diverted toward the president’s mass deportation effort. Like the ERO officers at the other terminals, the five HSI agents at Terminal 7 — people who, it bears repeating, could otherwise be investigating child sexual abuse — were standing in a circle and chatting. I stood outside and peered through the large windows, trying to look inconspicuous while puffing on my matcha-flavored vape. I waited to see if something would happen. Nothing did, so I went to Terminal 8.
At Terminal 8 I saw four officers, also standing against a wall near the check-in area. Two of them broke off from the group and joined another pair of agents near bag drop. As I took the escalator down to the Air Train, I saw a man approach them. I couldn’t hear what he said, but the conversation looked friendly enough. A strange version of this scene repeated itself at the next terminal.
The first thing you see upon entering JFK’s Terminal 1 is a large American flag. The second thing you see is an even larger photo of Kendall Jenner. And if you happened to be there at approximately 4:30PM on Monday, the third thing you’d see is a man approaching a group of six ERO agents and asking them to take a photo with his baby. The agents beamed, seemingly thrilled at the request and not otherwise occupied. The father beamed back. The baby sat in his arms limply, as babies do.
I had seen enough. My flight was in a little over three hours; there was no reason for me to keep skulking around JFK.
The stress at airports seems to be manifesting in silly and serious ways. The TSA line at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was so long that one woman pulled out a violin to entertain her fellow passengers. Sunday night, an Air Canada plane hit a fire truck on the runway of New York City’s La Guardia Airport. Two pilots died and dozens of people, including travelers and plane staff, were injured in the crash. The accident is seemingly unrelated to the shutdown — air traffic controllers are fully funded, though the Federal Aviation Administration has been dealing with a long-running staffing crisis of its own — but for travelers, the particulars of this crisis are hard to extricate from the long lines and ICE agents they now see at the airport.
Did ICE’s presence make the TSA process smoother in some way I couldn’t detect from the other side of the gate? I’d soon find the answer.
Back at Terminal 4, I saw two different ERO agents in the void between the TSA Pre Check line and the Delta One lounge. They, too, were doing nothing. One wore sunglasses even though we were indoors. I did not see a single ICE agent in line, nor did I see them helping process passengers. The woman one row down thanked the TSA agent for working and said we were all grateful. “We do it because we love y’all,” the agent said. I felt a beautiful sense of camaraderie and goodwill toward my fellow man in the TSA Pre Check line at JFK Terminal 4, which are not typically things I feel in the TSA Pre Check line at JFK Terminal 4. When I got to the front of the line I also thanked the agent and said I was sorry he was working without pay. He told me he was doing it because a lot of his friends couldn’t afford to.
From the relative comfort of my gate, I emailed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the JFK, La Guardia, and Newark airports. I asked about the ICE presence and what exactly the agents were supposed to be doing there. A spokesperson got back to me a few hours later: “The Port Authority expects that any such personnel assigned to assist with passenger processing functions will be appropriately trained and focused on supporting screening operations, consistent with maintaining the safety, integrity, and efficiency of the security process at our airports and protecting the flying public.” That didn’t quite line up with what I had seen.
The situation has gotten more chaotic since Monday. JFK’s Terminal 5 was packed Tuesday morning. Nationwide, more than 11.5 percent of TSA agents called out of work on March 21st. A staggering 47.4 percent of agents at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport didn’t show up to work that day. By Tuesday, wait times at Bush Intercontinental were around four hours, and ICE agents had started handing out water bottles to weary travelers.
Republicans are now considering a compromise that would fund TSA and other DHS agencies while omitting money for ICE enforcement, The New York Times reports. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), chair of the appropriations committee, told reporters Monday night that she was “more optimistic that by the end of the week we will fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
On Tuesday, Delta announced it was suspending standalone service for members of Congress until TSA funding is reinstated. “Due to the impact on resources from the longstanding government shutdown, Delta will temporarily suspend specialty services to members of Congress flying Delta,” a statement from the airline read. “Next to safety, Delta’s No. 1 Priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in our current environment.”
With their perks gone, members of Congress will have to deal with lines and hassle just like everyone else. Maybe this will give them the push they need to fund TSA. Until and unless they do, the bad vibes at the airport will continue.
Gaby Del Valle Close Gaby Del Valle Policy Reporter Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Gaby Del Valle
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