U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White Home for Florida, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2026.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to ship federal immigration brokers to U.S. airports except congressional Democrats instantly comply with fund the Division of Homeland Safety.
“I’ll transfer our good and patriotic ICE Brokers to the Airports the place they are going to do Safety like nobody has ever seen earlier than,” Trump wrote in a Reality Social submit. The Trump administration has confronted heavy criticism for aggressive deportation ways by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol brokers.
Trump claimed ICE brokers dealing with airport safety would arrest immigrants who’re within the U.S. illegally, particularly concentrating on people from Somalia.
In a separate submit later within the day, Trump mentioned he plans to maneuver ICE brokers into airports as quickly as Monday, telling them to “GET READY.”
“I look ahead to shifting ICE in on Monday, and have already advised them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” he wrote.
When requested for remark, the White Home referred to Trump’s social media. DHS didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s requests for remark.
A bipartisan group of senators met with DHS border czar Tom Homan final night time to debate extra immigration enforcement concessions made by the White Home on Friday in an try to finish the partial authorities shutdown, POLITICO reported, citing lawmakers in attendance.
The Senate is in session Saturday and Sunday, engaged on different legislative points, however it’s unclear whether or not additional talks or a vote on the brand new DHS funding proposal will happen.
Democrats are demanding adjustments to how federal immigration enforcement operates in alternate for releasing the funding. The White Home and Democrats have been buying and selling proposals for over a month however haven’t but come to an settlement on a deal.
The DHS shutdown has been much less disruptive than final yr’s record-long authorities shutdown. However since a lot of DHS is taken into account important, staff are required to work with out pay.
The results of the funding lapse and lack of pay are being felt at U.S. airports, the place Transportation Safety Administration brokers are quitting or calling out sick. DHS staff missed their first full paychecks final week.
Vacationers wait in lengthy safety traces at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport as Transportation Safety Administration officers work with out pay throughout a busy journey weekend on March 21, 2026. Staffing issues and elevated passenger quantity led to prolonged wait instances, with some vacationers reporting delays of over an hour.
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The scarcity of brokers has prompted obscenely lengthy traces at safety checkpoints, together with in Atlanta and Houston, the place spring break journey is in full swing.
“If a deal is not lower, you are going to see what’s taking place at the moment appear like kid’s play,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy advised CNN on Friday. Earlier within the week, Duffy warned that smaller airports may shut down fully quickly on account of staffing.
In a separate submit earlier within the day, Tesla CEO and former Trump advisor Elon Musk mentioned he want to cowl the paychecks of TSA officers because the shutdown continues.
“I want to provide to pay the salaries of TSA personnel throughout this funding deadlock that’s negatively affecting the lives of so many Individuals at airports all through the nation,” Musk, the world’s richest man, mentioned in a submit on X.
Musk didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The common wage for TSA brokers is about $46,000 to $55,000, in keeping with a latest Related Press report.
It is unclear how such a suggestion would work.
Final yr, Trump introduced a rich, unnamed donor supplied $130 million to assist cowl navy pay shortfalls brought on by the administration’s first authorities shutdown, the longest in historical past. That thriller donor was revealed to be Timothy Mellon, an inheritor to a famend Gilded Age banking household, The New York Instances later reported.
However Mellon’s donation labored out to solely about $100 per service member. It prices almost $6.4 billion to pay U.S. troops each two weeks. And such a donation may need violated the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal businesses from spending funds that haven’t been appropriated by Congress, the Instances reported.
— Annie Nova and Dan Mangan contributed reporting
