Philly DA Larry Krasner threatens to arrest ICE agents at airport

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has threatened to arrest and prosecute Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who are activated at the city's airport to help TSA with security, as Democrats have been blocking the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in Congress.

“This is how it works. You commit crimes within the jurisdiction that is the city and county of Philadelphia; I prosecute you. That is how it works. No, I don’t take a phone call from president saying, ‘Let them go.’ No, the president cannot pardon you,” Krasner said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“I’ll say it again. The president cannot pardon you. And yes, I will put you in handcuffs and I will put you in a courtroom and, if necessary, I will put you in a jail cell if you decide to make the terrazzo floor of this airport anything like what you did in the streets of Minneapolis, which involved the criminal homicide of unarmed, innocent people. We are not having that,” he added.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump deployed ICE agents to various airports across the nation to assist TSA with security, as agents have been going weeks without pay during a partial government shutdown. Agents with ICE have been spotted at airports in Philly, San Francisco, Phoenix, Atlanta, New York, and other cities. ICE, while also operating under the authority of DHS, has received separate funding from the Big Beautiful Bill that was passed earlier last year and has continued to run as usual during the partial government shutdown.

Despite ICE already having the funds to continue operating, Democrats in the Senate have continued to block a funding package for DHS, claiming that they don't want to fund ICE and have been pushing for reforms in the agency. Trump has said that ICE will remain at the airports until the DHS shutdown is resolved.