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Philly TSA unions, council members demand ICE out of PHL airport

Philadelphia TSA union and City Council President Kenyatta Johnson demanded that Congress fund TSA and remove ICE from airports at a Thursday news conference.

Phil Glover with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA workers in Pennsylvania and Delaware, speaking at the podium on the north side of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, March 26, 2026. City officials, TSA union leadership, and members of the clergy were there to support TSA workers who are working without pay during the DHS shutdown, and to seek removal of I.C.E officers from Philadelphia International Airport during a press conference. In the background, from left to right, are Democratic City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Nina Ahmad and, Councilmember Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party.
Phil Glover with the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA workers in Pennsylvania and Delaware, speaking at the podium on the north side of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, March 26, 2026. City officials, TSA union leadership, and members of the clergy were there to support TSA workers who are working without pay during the DHS shutdown, and to seek removal of I.C.E officers from Philadelphia International Airport during a press conference. In the background, from left to right, are Democratic City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Nina Ahmad and, Councilmember Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party.Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
    by Henry Savage
    Updated 
    Published 

A day after President Donald Trump deployed armed ICE agents to security checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport, Philly’s TSA union leaders and the city’s top lawmakers stood on the steps of City Hall to send a message.

“Take ICE agents for some retraining, get them out of our airport, and get TSA paid today‚" said Phil Glover, national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents the region’s Transportation Security Agency (TSA) workers.

But as City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmembers Nina Ahmed and Kendra Brooks joined union leaders in disavowing ICE’s presence at PHL, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker remains silent on the topic, declining to comment on ICE and Trump’s activity.

While the Parker administration has vowed not to change the city’s immigrant-friendly policies of past mayors, even going as far as to tell the U.S. Department of Justice that Philadelphia remains a “welcoming city” to immigrants, the mayor avoids confronting the White House in a strategy aimed at keeping Philadelphia out of the president’s crosshairs as he pursues a nationwide deportation campaign.

Despite the mayor’s stance, City Council, union leaders, and District Attorney Larry Krasner have been making their message clear.

“We do not need to have ICE working at the Philadelphia International Airport, creating an atmosphere of fear, of confusion, and intimidation,” Johnson said. His colleague, Brooks, co-authored pending city legislation that would place guardrails on ICE operations in the city.

TSA staff have missed paychecks, while ICE agents get paid

Local TSA agents are working through low morale as they near their fourth missed paycheck on Friday amid the partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, according to AFGE. While ICE agents continue to get paid despite the shutdown, many TSA staff are working gig jobs to make ends meet.

“Transportation Security officers are very disappointed that they are sending paid workers in to stand behind checkpoints or in front of the lines, and aren’t helping to even move the line,” Glover said. “All of this is political theater.”

Earlier this week, Trump deployed ICE agents to 14 airports across the country, including PHL, amid TSA staffing shortages. Since TSA agents haven’t been paid since February, many have been calling out of work, with some airports, like Houston, seeing up to 40% staff call-outs, leading to three-hour delays.

Security delays are not so bad at PHL, where TSA staffing call-outs are among the lowest of large airports in the country. When ICE agents were stationed at Terminal D and B checkpoints on Tuesday, the maximum wait time was 15 minutes. Many travelers remained neutral to armed ICE agents, while others shook agents’ hands.

The Inquirer reported that some Philly TSA agents are now being flown to other parts of the country, such as Houston, to train ICE agents on TSA duties. Glover said TSA workers are not happy about it.

“ICE is not built for running airports. They’re not trained for it. They’re not even trained for what they’re doing in the field right now,” Glover said, who is an Army veteran and former law enforcement officer.

District Attorney Larry Krasner warns ICE agents

Thursday’s news conference follows DA Krasner’s appearance at PHL on Tuesday to observe ICE operations and warn them not to break the law.

“Uphold the laws and keep your oath,” Krasner said on Tuesday. “ It does not matter whether I personally approve of policies that you are following. My job is to enforce the law. You commit crimes within the jurisdiction that is the city and county of Philadelphia — I prosecute you."

While Krasner was not at Thursday’s news conference, his comments on ICE agents at TSA have reached the White House. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called Krasner’s comments “disgraceful.”

“I would encourage this lawmaker [sic] to actually sit down and speak to the ICE agents who are on the ground doing this important work,” Leavitt said.

When Krasner went to PHL on Tuesday, he attempted to talk with ICE agents, only to find that ICE had disappeared from public view upon arrival.

Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.