Officials scramble to carry out Trump's directive to have ICE agents conduct airport security [View all]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: March 22, 2026 / 9:06 PM EDT / CBS News


Officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been scrambling to carry out a weekend directive from President Trump to have immigration agents provide security at airports amid the partial government shutdown, multiple sources familiar with the internal deliberations told CBS News.

On Saturday, Mr. Trump posted a message on Truth Social suggesting he would deploy ICE agents to airports to conduct security and arrest people in the U.S. illegally, if congressional Democrats did not agree on a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security. DHS oversees immigration agencies like ICE and the Transportation Security Administration. In subsequent posts, Mr. Trump said he would dispatch ICE agents to airports on Monday.

Mr. Trump's directive caught officials at ICE off guard and they have been scrambling to come up with a plan to enforce it, the sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

"I have no idea what we're doing," one DHS source said when asked about the president's order.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-officials-trump-ice-agents-airport-security-tsa/