ICE agents won't be sent to Dallas Love Field, DFW airports amid blame game between Democrats, Republicans for DHS shutdown
President Trump said Monday he sent ICE agents to various airports across the country that have experienced very long lines, inconveniencing thousands of passengers. It comes as the partial government shutdown is impacting the Department of Homeland Security, making it the second-longest in history.
But ICE is not sending its agents to Dallas Love Field and DFW International Airport, for now, because the lines at security checkpoints haven't been anything like those at airports in Houston, Atlanta and others.
On Monday, ICE agents showed up at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport. For days now, travelers there have had to stand in lines for hours, just like at Atlanta's airport. Some passengers have missed their flights even after showing up early.
ICE wouldn't comment on the role its agents are playing at airports, but in a video recorded by news photographers, ICE agents weren't screening passengers.
DHS says 400 TSA employees nationwide have quit since last month because they haven't gotten paid.
In a statement to CBS News Texas, DHS said, "While the Democrats continue to put the safety, dependability, and ease of our air travel at risk, President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE agents, who are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted. This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions."
Lawmakers argue over who's to blame
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are still blaming each other for the DHS shutdown and for placing ICE agents at the airports.
U.S. Representative Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, told CBS News Texas Monday, "It just shows us the Republicans are out of control. What they need to do is fund TSA and get our trained TSA agents back on the job. I signed a discharge petition to fund TSA. Democrats in the Senate have offered five different amendments trying to get TSA funded. Republicans have refused to do this."
In an interview with CBS News Texas Monday, U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, said, "I think what you're seeing is an administration who's thinking outside the box and figuring out how can we make the suffering from the American people and from the TSA agents as small as possible. But I also hate the fact that they're having to get out of the field and doing the job that they were hired to do, and having to go into airports because we don't have funding, which is ridiculous."
Over the weekend, Senate Republicans, including Ted Cruz, proposed funding all of DHS, except ICE. Senate Democrats have blocked DHS funding since mid-February after Renee Good and Alexi Pretti were killed by ICE and CBP officers in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Johnson said, "There's a lot of important agencies within the umbrella of DHS that should be funded, but ICE needs to have a complete overhaul. So, it needs not to be funded until it's re-put back together because the way it's been operating in this country is unacceptable."
But House Republicans say ICE is already funded thanks to the reconciliation bill they and Senate Republicans passed last year.
Trump said Monday that he won't approve a deal unless Senate Democrats agree to a bill called the SAVE America Act. It requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and to show ID when people vote. The bill is up for debate in the Senate after Van Duyne and House Republicans approved it last month. Van Duyne urged Senate Democrats to pass the SAVE Act.
"If they're going to play games and they're going to try to negotiate, expect a negotiation. This President is saying, 'Okay, you want to negotiate?' Fine. We want the Save America Act. Again, this is an 80-20 supported bill."
The President of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1040, which represents TSA officers, Johnny Jones, said among the reasons why there haven't been very long lines at Love Field and DFW International Airports is because TSA officers here are very committed to their jobs. But he also said TSA managers have required strict documentation when officers call out sick. Regardless, he said, TSA employees and their families are very stressed out because they haven't been paid for weeks now.
Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming.
Follow Jack on X: @cbs11jack
