Trump to send ICE agents to help strained TSA at airports

President Donald Trump said he is sending federal immigration agents to assist with the airport security delays impacting spring break travel.

President Donald Trump said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be sent to airports to assist understaffed Transportation Security Administration agents starting Monday, March 23, amid the ongoing partial government shutdown.

The announcement comes a day after the president first threatened to deploy the federal immigration enforcement agency to address the growing crisis, sparked by the ongoing funding fight in Congress and exacerbated by an influx of spring break travelers.

"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 in a social media post on Sunday, March 22.

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In comments a day prior, the president said he would also have the ICE agents arrest people who have entered the United States without authorization, especially those coming from Somalia − a country he has repeatedly criticized. It's not clear if the Monday deployment will only see ICE agents assisting TSA agents in their prescribed duties, or if their mandate will also include immigration enforcement at airports.