Philadelphia DA Sends Warning To ICE Agents Deployed To Airport
Up to about 150 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were sent to over a dozen airports across the United States of America on Monday, a move that the Donald Trump administration reasoned was an effort to help with the problem of long lines amid a drastic shortage of Transportation Security Administration agents (TSA) who are working with no pay during the partial government shutdown.
ICE Agents Warned By Philadelphia District Attorney
Officers stationed at Philadelphia International Airport to support the TSA staff shortages were given a warning by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Kranser. At a press conference on Tuesday at the airport, which was obtained by WHYY, Kranser said, “ICE, play nice.” He did not hesitate to say that he would prosecute agents who violate laws within his jurisdiction.
He said, “I will put you in handcuffs, and I will put you in a courtroom, and, if necessary, I will put you in a jail cell if you decide to make the terrazzo floor of this airport anything like what you did in the streets of Minneapolis, which involved the criminal homicide of unarmed, innocent people.” Kranser also added in the press conference that the United States Constitution applies to immigrants “almost as much as it applies to a U.S. citizen.”
ICE agents stationed at a couple of airports on Wednesday were checking travelers’ IDs and performing other screening tasks with TSA personnel. The duties were a large departure from the initial role of addressing the chaotic, long lines amid the TSA personnel shortage. Largely, the agents have been patrolling hallways and standing watch.
Many TSA workers have quit over the past few weeks due to working without pay, and many more are continuing to call out across the country. Despite the funding war in Washington revolving around how ICE conducts its operations, agents will be getting paid due to money from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
President of AFGE Local 333, LaShanda Palmer, said to 6abc that TSA workers are facing hard circumstances as they continue working without pay. On 6abc, she said, “The employees of this agency have chosen between gas to come to work, food for their families, some cannot even afford co-pays for their doctors’ visits, or pick up medication.”
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TSA Union Workers Criticize Trump’s Deployment of The Agents At Airports
TSA Union workers called out Trump’s deployment of the officers at select airports on Tuesday. According to The Hill, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) held a virtual press conference to criticize the deployment. Hydrick Thomas, president of the AFGE TSA Council 100 and of AFGE Local 2222, outlined the criticism.
In his statement obtained by The Hill, Thomas said, “You want to bring a tactical force into an environment where you’re required to have customer service and skill set, a mindset, where you know what you’re doing, how to identify something that might be suspicious — they don’t have that training.” Some TSA Union leaders even said that they haven’t received much information about the extent of the duties that the agents will take on.
Janis Casey, AFGE TSA Council 100 Region 3 vice president, added, per The Hill, there isn’t much the ICE officers can do to take the pressure off the TSA staff “because each position requires certification and recertification on a yearly basis. And you cannot fail.” This week, officers were deployed to 14 airports across the country.
Trump declared that agents would not only help TSA officers, but would arrest illegal immigrants, though he later said that wasn’t their primary reason there and that they shouldn’t wear masks. The fact that TSA workers haven’t been paid, while the officers have been paid through the shutdown, was another source of tension.
The union representing TSA workers has been in a fierce legal battle with the Trump administration over efforts to dissolve it, leading to concerns from some leaders that it is a precursor to privatizing their job functions. Trump said Thursday on social media that he was directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help cover the salaries of TSA officers working without pay.
