(The Hill) – White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will not be directly involved in security measures at airports, a day before agency officials will begin assisting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees.
“Wherever we can provide extra security, I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” Homan told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines,” he added.
President Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Sunday that ICE officers will “help” TSA agents starting Monday and Homan is in charge of the operation. The longtime immigration official said Sunday that he is “working on the plan” with acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.
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“We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” he added. Homan also said that while the plan is a “work in progress,” it is his view that ICE should prioritize airports “where the longest waits are.”
As the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approaches day 40, a significant percentage of TSA employees continue to call out of work — resulting in lengthy security wait times at airports nationwide.
Some airports, including Philadelphia International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, have even closed security checkpoints amid staffing shortages.
Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary of DHS, also said in a Tuesday release that 366 TSA officers have left the force since the shutdown began on Feb. 15. TSA agents received partial paychecks late last month and no paychecks at all last week.
Now, with ICE officers set to assist at airports, Homan said the law enforcement officials are ready to do so.
“ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already,” he told Bash. “They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports. But you got TSA agents covering exits, people that enter through the exits.”
People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“Certainly, a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit and makes sure people don’t go through those exits, entering the airport through the exits,” he said. “And stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines.”
Homan’s comments on Sunday conflict with those from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who told ABC News that ICE officers would assist with security operations at airports.
“They run those same type of security machines at the southern border, right?” Duffy said Sunday. “Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets.”
“We have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents,” he continued, noting the officers will also seek to assist with lines.
The Hill has reached out to the White House, TSA, ICE and Transportation Department for clarification.
Homan on Sunday also noted that ICE carries out immigration enforcement at airports “all the time” and that is “not going to change,” he noted that this surge is specifically about assisting TSA employees.
“This is about helping the men and women at TSA,” Homan said.
