So far, Trump has deployed ICE to Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Meyers.
The President called on ICE agents at these airports to not wear a mask as they “help” with security operations, writing on Truth Social, “I am a BIG proponent of ICE wearing masks as they search for, and are forced to deal with, hardened criminals,” but that he would “greatly appreciate” that agents wear “NO MASKS” while deployed to airports.”
NOW: ICE Agents seen running from Photographers and patrolling at JFK Airport in NYC as massive TSA Security lines continue at US Airports
Video by Diego Luzuriaga | Licensing @FreedomNTV [email protected] pic.twitter.com/2bjBmKVrZm
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) March 23, 2026
If Trump’s ICE deployments don’t work, he told the Times that he would send in the National Guard to assist the TSA. I’m sure adding machine guns to the situation would only serve to ease tensions. He also added that he would “love it” if frenemy Elon Musk followed through with his weekend offer to pay TSA personnel during the shutdown. I’ve got a feeling Elon won’t be doing that, though, mostly because it is super illegal for federal employees to take money from private citizens for all the reasons that are obvious.
Just to make all of this more unsettling, it’s a very real possibility that Trump got the idea for deploying ICE at airports from a radio host who pitched it on Fox News, according to CNN. “Linda from Arizona” called into “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” on March 20, saying that she thought ICE could solve the TSA issue, to which Travis responded that it was “kind of a brilliant idea.” Trump announced his ICE plan on March 21. In between that, Travis appeared on Fox News and pitched the idea. What a hellscape we live in.
Obviously, ICE’s deployment at our nation’s airports is still brand new and a rapidly evolving situation, so we’ll be sure to bring you updates as they come in.
