“The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them.”
Hakeem Jeffries claimed Sunday that the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports could put travelers at risk, saying Americans may be harmed under the plan.
Speaking after the announcement, Jeffries said: “The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them."
The comments came as ICE prepares to assist Transportation Security Administration officers beginning Monday, following a directive from President Donald Trump. The move is part of a broader response to staffing shortages at TSA amid a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
https://twitter.com/cnnsotu/status/2035711806522503193?s=46&t=bhRsCFycz_nOQT66mhEqCA
Trump announced the deployment in a Truth Social post on Sunday, stating that ICE agents would support TSA personnel who have remained on the job without pay. He blamed Democratic lawmakers for withholding funding tied to immigration enforcement.
“On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,” Trump wrote.
He added: “But watch, no matter how great a job ICE does, the Lunatics leading the incompetent Dems will be highly critical of their work.”
Border Czar Tom Homan said in a Sunday interview that ICE personnel would not replace TSA screeners but would instead take on other security-related responsibilities.
“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine – because you’re not trained in that – [but] there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines,” Homan said. “We’ll put together a plan today, and we’ll execute tomorrow.”
He added that ICE would work to “help TSA move people through the line.”
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