Trump Nixes DHS Deal, Deploys ICE Agents To Airports

A deal proposed by Senate Democrats and some Republicans to fund DHS except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement was rejected by President Donald Trump on Sunday. Trump then directed up to 150 ICE agents to be deployed at airports across the nation beginning on Monday (March 23).

In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump ranted about his decision to nix the proposed Department of Homeland Security deal, writing: “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.” According to The New York Times, Trump also wrote that ICE agents would help with “the immediate arrest of all illegal immigrants who have come into our Country.” 

The proposed deal would’ve seen the Senate agree to funding DHS, including Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees as well as FEMA and the Coast Guard. The exception was that ICE and the Border Patrol wouldn’t be funded, citing serious concerns over their actions.

In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump ranted about his decision to nix the proposed deal, writing: “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.” According to The New York Times, Trump also wrote that ICE agents would help with “the immediate arrest of all illegal immigrants who have come into our Country.” 

A DHS statement said that the ICE agents would “help bolster T.S.A. efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.” There were conflicting definitions of that mission as chief border official Tom Honan said that “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because they’re not trained in that,” but acknowledged they could provide extra security. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told ABC News something different.  “They know how to pat people down,” he said in an interview. “They know how to run the X-ray machines.”

DHS has not provided an official list of where ICE agents were deployed, but they have been spotted at major hubs such as Chicago’s O’Hare, Newark-Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia in the New York area, and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta. Several people have documented ICE agents basically milling about at the airports, with no reported arrests so far.

Trump Nixes DHS Deal, Deploys ICE Agents To Airports was originally published on hiphopwired.com