ICE agents seen at Houston's Bush Airport

ICE agents seen at Houston's Bush Airport

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents were seen at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday morning after the Trump administration announced a plan to send ICE agents to help at airports dealing with TSA staffing shortages.

HOUSTON - Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents were seen at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday morning after the Trump administration announced a plan to send ICE agents to help at airports dealing with TSA staffing shortages.

TSA sent to airports

The backstory:

President Donald Trump said Sunday he would order federal immigration agents to airports to assist TSA by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Funding for the department lapsed Feb. 14 as Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations in the wake of the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Democrats are continuing to demand major changes to federal immigration operations — including policy changes that would require ICE agents to get a warrant from a judge before forcefully entering homes, the removal of masks and clear identifying information on uniforms.

No masks at airports

Trump on Monday directed ICE officers not to wear face coverings in their work at airports. In a social media post, Trump said he supports ICE officers wearing masks when dealing with "hardened criminals" but suggested it isn’t necessary when assisting with the "MESS at the airports."

What will ICE agents do at airports?

Tom Homan said Sunday that ICE agents would not be used to perform specialized TSA screening duties like reading X-rays. Instead, he said they could help with tasks such as maintaining exit lanes and checking identification before passengers enter screening areas, freeing up TSA officers for screening work.

Where are ICE agents being sent?

What we don't know:

It is still unclear which airports will actually see ICE agents arrive on Monday. 

The Associated Press reported that a handful of federal agents were seen near busy lines at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

It is not yet clear exactly how many ICE agents would be sent to each airport, how quickly they would be in place, or how much immediate impact they would have on wait times. Homan described the operation as still being finalized Sunday.