ICE agents are expected to leave PHL this week
The airport's interim CEO said there were "no issues" involving ICE agents during their time at PHL, but that they're not needed and will be leaving.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that were deployed to Philadelphia International Airport last month amid the Department of Homeland Security shutdown are set to leave as soon as Thursday.
Tracy Borda, the airport’s chief financial officer and interim CEO, discussed the ICE agents’ expected departure during a Philadelphia City Council budget hearing Wednesday.
“The good news is we’re at a point where we’re told that as of tomorrow, we won’t have any more ICE officers at the airport. They should be gone,” said Borda. “They’re not needed in Philadelphia, and my understanding is at this point, they’ll be gone tomorrow.”
Those in attendance at the hearing could be heard applauding.
ICE agents had been sent to PHL and other airports across the country during the DHS shutdown. TSA agents were expected to continue working through the shutdown without pay, so many called out, and travelers waited in long lines to pass through security checkpoints.
The ICE employees sent to PHL were “really well trained” and “very supportive of queue management,” reminding passengers how to go through the security checkpoint, said Borda.
Throughout ICE’s deployment to PHL, “we really had no issues,” Borda said.
Asked about the financial impact of closing down three security checkpoints during the shutdown, Borda noted that she was “not aware of any material impacts.”
PHL also closed a security checkpoints during the previous partial government shutdown which began in October 2025.
“Sadly, we’ve had to do this twice in the last year,” said Borda.
Throughout the recent DHS shutdown, Borda said, Philadelphia was not hit as hard as other airports with regard to TSA employees calling out and traveler wait times at security checkpoints. While the wait time hit 50 minutes at one point at PHL, she said, it hovered around 20 minutes typically. “You saw incredibly long wait times elsewhere,” she noted.
In her remarks to Council, Borda thanked TSA agents for continuing to work despite the shutdown.
“Federal employees at our airports have continued their hard work during the budget impasse,” said Borda. “We applaud these dedicated employees for their service to the PHL airport community and for doing an outstanding job keeping PHL wait times below the national average.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.