ICE officers soon will help with airport security unless Democrats end shutdown, Trump says

Trump plans to deploy ICE officers for airport security unless Democrats fund the Department of Homeland Security amid ongoing shutdown.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (March 21, 2026) he will order federal immigration officers to take a role in airport security starting Monday unless Democrats agree on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

In a series of social media posts, Mr. Trump said he was making plans to put officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in airports if the congressional standoff continues. After the Senate failed to find a resolution at a rare weekend session, Trump appeared resolute in his plan: “ICE is ready to go on Monday,” he said.

He announced a partial shutdown contributes to long lines to pass through screening at some of the nation's largest airports.

The Republican president said ICE agents would bring the administration’s immigration crackdown into the nation’s airports, promising to arrest “all Illegal Immigrants."

“I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” Mr. Trump wrote while spending the weekend in Florida.

The move appears to be a pointed effort to expand the type of immigration enforcement that has become a sticking point in Congress. Democrats pledged to oppose funding for DHS unless changes were made in the wake of a crackdown in Minnesota that led to the fatal shootings of two protesters. Democrats are asking for better identification for federal law enforcement officers, a new code of conduct for those agencies and more use of judicial warrants, among other measures.