TSA officials say ICE has "no practical use" in airports.

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Eric Katz @EricM_Katz
ICYMI: TSA officials tell us ICE has "no practical use" in airports. Just about everything TSA screeners do require extensive classroom and on-the-job training that ICE personnel don't have.

Exact nature of ICE duties unclear, but they're unlikely to free up staff.

___Several current and former TSA officials told Government Executive that ICE personnel will be limited in what they can accomplish at airports, as they will not have the requisite training to check identification, examine luggage x-rays or provide other key security services. TSA employees go through classroom and on-the-job training before they can staff those roles, the officials said.

“It serves no practical use,” said one former official with decades of federal experience who declined to be named out of fear of professional reprisal. “It's a political, publicity action, not a practical solution.”

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA staff, said those workers spend months learning specific skills that enable them to detect explosives, weapons and individuals looking to evade security. They are recertified on an ongoing basis after receiving extensive instruction and seeking to replace them with ICE personnel would only exacerbate the problem.

“You cannot improvise that,” Kelley said. “Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one.”

read: https://www.govexec.com/management/2026/03/no-practical-use-tsa-experts-say-trumps-ice-deployments-wont-help-airport-security/412298/