ICE agents begin deployment at US airports amid budget standoff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began to deploy to US airports Monday amid an ongoing budget standoff between the White House and congressional Democrats.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are demanding comprehensive reforms within ICE before they agree to fund its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security. The push comes after ICE agents fatally shot two American protesters earlier this year amid President Donald Trump's ongoing immigration crackdown.

DHS is a sprawling federal government agency with a wide range of subordinate agencies.

There has so far been little sign of progress in negotiations, even as thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents have worked without pay since Feb. 14, with hundreds resigning since the partial government shutdown began last month.

"This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Anadolu.

"President Trump is taking action to deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that 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," she added.

The resignations and call-outs have exacerbated wait times at some US airports, where security lines have, in some cases, extended for hours as passengers slowly make their way through sprawling, labyrinthine queues.

Neither ICE nor DHS responded to requests for comment seeking a list of airports where the ICE agents have been sent, but CNN reported that they have been sent to 13 airports so far.

That includes Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and both of New York City's main airports-LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

It is unclear if the push will be expanded, but Trump appeared to acknowledge earlier Monday that his decision to send ICE agents into American airports is fueled in part by his desire to expand his immigrant roundup.

"That's why the Democrats are going crazy, because they've allowed, by what they did, and the hold up, we put ICE, who are a very high level, I mean, 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," Trump said.

"That's very fertile territory. But that's not why they're there. They're really there to help," he added.