
<p>Earlier this week ICE agents began to be deployed at airports to “ease the burden” on unpaid TSA workers. Right now, they seem to be providing “perimeter security,” but their presence has raised concerns that they may conduct “immigration enforcement” at the terminals, something that President Trump has not “ruled out.”</p>



<p>&#8220;What I see ICE agents doing is helping TSA plug the holes of security,&#8221; White House Border Czar Tom Homan told ABC News on March 23.</p>



<p>However, on that same day President Donald Trump told reporters that the ICE agents assigned to airports will also continue to enforce immigration laws.</p>



<p>&#8220;They really are a high-level group of people, and they love it because they’re able to now arrest illegals as they come into the country. That’s very fertile territory,&#8221; Trump said during a gaggle with reporters on the tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida. &#8220;But that’s not why they’re there. They’re really there to help.&#8221;</p>



<p>Trump went on to say, &#8220;If that&#8217;s not enough, I&#8217;ll bring in the National Guard.&#8221;</p>



<p>Homan said that if ICE agents see &#8220;illegal activity,&#8221; they will take action because they are federal law enforcement officers.</p>



<p>Asked whether the ICE agents will be carrying out immigration enforcement at airports, Homan said, &#8220;We&#8217;re not going to ignore illegal conduct in the airport whether it&#8217;s human trafficking, whether it&#8217;s alien smuggling with somebody that&#8217;s wanted, whether it&#8217;s &#8230; someone that they believe they have reasonable suspicion to talk to because they feel there&#8217;s a criminal activity in front of them.&#8221;</p>



<p>&#8220;Of course, anybody would need probable cause to make any arrests, but yeah, they&#8217;re law enforcement officers and they&#8217;re not going to ignore the law while we&#8217;re there,&#8221; Homan said.</p>



<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m leaving it up to the TSA Administrator, who&#8217;s an expert airport operations,&#8221; Homan added. &#8220;Where can we plug the holes? Where can we increase security, especially in this heightened security environment, because what&#8217;s going on the world? Where can we help you to move those lines and American people quicker to inspections while the same time maintaining security at the airport?&#8221;</p>



<p>As ICE agents began showing up at airports, Trump posted a message on social media asking them to refrain from wearing masks while helping with airport security.</p>



<p>&#8220;I would greatly appreciate, however, NO MASKS, when helping our Country out of the Democrat caused MESS at the airports,&#8221; Trump said in his post, adding that he is a &#8220;BIG proponent&#8221; of ICE agents wearing masks when they &#8220;search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals.&#8221;</p>



<p>Asked by reporters on Air Force One why he wants ICE agents to remove their masks at airports, Trump replied, &#8220;Because the people coming into the airport, typically speaking, aren’t murderers, killers, drug dealers, etc. There may be a few of them. But there aren’t many.&#8221;</p>



<p>Immigration officials wearing masks have been a key issue for critics in Trump&#8217;s nationwide mass deportation program.</p>



<p>Trump added that typical travelers at airports are &#8220;people that want to come into the country, and that want to leave the country, going to maybe their home countries, so I didn’t think it was an appropriate look for an airport.&#8221;</p>



<p>Homan followed that up saying that the deployment of ICE would largely free up TSA agents for specialized tasks, like passenger and bag screening. ;</p>



<p>Homan, however, said ICE agents are not trained to do specialized work like screening passengers and running X-ray machines.</p>



<p><strong>DHS funding battle continues</strong></p>



<p>Democrats have blocked funding for the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to push for policy reforms to ICE, whose aggressive tactics in enforcing immigration laws have prompted protests and lawsuits across the country.</p>



<p>The DHS reforms that Democratic lawmakers have proposed include requiring ICE agents not to wear face masks, be equipped with body cameras and have warrants signed by a judge before entering homes and businesses.</p>



<p>Republicans have, so far, rejected those proposals.</p>

Will ICE Conduct Immigration Enforcement at Airports? Trump Won’t Rule it Out
