Donald Trump posted a message threatening to send ICE agents to airports to arrest illegal immigrants if the Democratic Party does not reach a budget agreement.
On 21 Mar 2026 GMT+7, Donald Trump, the U.S. president, threatened to deploy officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to oversee security at various airports to arrest illegal immigrants if the Democrats fail to agree on budget support for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“I will deploy our amazing and patriotic ICE officers to airports, where they will provide security like never seen before,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
“This includes immediately arresting all illegal immigrants entering our country, focusing especially on those from Somalia, who were approved by corrupt governors, attorneys general, and Representative Ilhan Omar to come and destroy the once-great state of Minnesota,” Trump stated.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been without a budget since mid-February after Congress failed to reach a budget agreement, resulting in airport security officers not receiving pay.
Trump’s move came after a bill to approve DHS’s budget and allocate salaries for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at airports failed to pass the Senate on Friday.
The Trump administration blamed Democrats, who insist on ICE reforms before approving the budget. The delay has caused thousands of TSA employees, also under DHS, to work unpaid for over a month.
Reports indicate more than 300 TSA employees have resigned during this period, while U.S. media report that unplanned absenteeism has more than doubled.
This situation has caused long queues at airports, with unions revealing some officers taking second jobs to earn income, and some airports resorting to accepting gift card and survival kit donations to support TSA staff.
Jonnie Jones, an official from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in Dallas, told USA Today, “Many employees have reported to me that their bank accounts are at zero or negative.”
“They have no money for childcare or food. They just want to know why we aren’t paid while there is plenty of money to fire missiles at other countries,” he said.
ICE plays a key role in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, having arrested thousands since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. However, ICE tactics have faced heavy criticism from Democrats, civil rights groups, and many private organizations.
Trump wrote that the deployment of ICE officers would begin this Monday “if Democrats do not approve fair and proper security at our airports and elsewhere across the country.”
However, ICE officers are not specifically trained for airport security duties.
Although ICE operates under DHS, the agency has not been significantly affected by previous partial government shutdowns, as Congress had already approved a separate budget for it.
Meanwhile, Democrats have called for ICE reforms after federal agents killed two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pratte and Rene Good, while they were protesting against Trump’s immigration raids in Minnesota in January.
Democrats have proposed that DHS ban ICE officers from wearing face-covering masks, require clearer identification badges, and tighten regulations on court warrant requests, but these proposals have not yet been addressed.
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Source:bbc