Philadelphia International Airport TSA employees have been deployed to overstressed airports in other states
A PHL employee deployed to an airport in Houston said ICE agents were being trained on security work, like checking travelers' IDs.
Transportation Security Administration officers from Philadelphia International Airport have been deployed to airports around the country facing chaotic scenes, including increased employee absences, seemingly never-ending lines, and ICE agents learning how to do security work amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown.
Four officers from PHL, who are part of an established team to handle last-minute special assignments, have been sent to work the checkpoints at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, said a PHL transportation security officer with firsthand knowledge of the transfers and who asked to remain remain anonymous out of fear of workplace retaliation.
Roughly 40% of the TSA workforce at Hobby had called out earlier this week as employees continue to work without a paycheck, while roughly 20% of Philly’s TSA workforce had called out, according to DHS.
Another two colleagues from PHL have been sent to Arizona, the PHL employee said.
Coupled with the change of scenery, the employee saw U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — who are being deployed by the Trump administration in an attempt to reduce travel disruptions — receiving training from TSA Wednesday to partake in security duties, including checking travelers’ identification. Unlike other agencies within DHS, ICE agents are being paid through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which steered billions into immigration enforcement.
“It was like a slap in the face,” the employee said of the training, noting the extensive instruction that TSA officers typically undergo.
“It’s very frustrating, because it’s like... You guys can pay these guys and sit them in the front of our face and have them do our jobs, but you can’t pay us,” the employee added.
A spokesperson for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal workers union, confirmed that employees from PHL and other airports have been deployed to Houston and that ICE agents are receiving training for checking IDs.
Trump announced his decision to deploy ICE to airports on Sunday, rankling Democrats who’ve raised concerns about safety and a lack of training. The ongoing DHS shutdown, which has upended air travel, is the result of stalled negotiations between the Trump administration and Democrats who want to couple any additional funding for DHS with reforms to ICE following the agency’s use of extreme tactics to carry out Trump’s deportation agenda.
As the shutdown entered its 40th day Wednesday, many TSA officers are struggling to afford coming to work without a paycheck, and more than 480 security screeners have quit. As a result, travelers are seeing longer wait times and ICE agents being deployed to various airports, including PHL.
Agents are “guarding entrances and exits, assisting with logistics, and doing crowd control,” said DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“The more support we have available, the more efficiently TSA can focus on their highly specialized screening roles to efficiently get airport security lines moving faster,” Bis said.
But there are concerns about the impact of TSA’s presence.
U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery) said on Monday that she is concerned about untrained agents interfering in security operations.
“Sadly, I fear that in the confusion, a threat might get through, a threat to our security in the air, based on the confusion of who’s in charge,” Dean said. “I also fear for people getting hurt. You saw what they did in Minneapolis. They killed, before our very eyes, two American citizens — killed them in broad daylight.”
This is the third shutdown that TSA employees and workers in other DHS agencies, like the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have had to endure in the span of several months, but the first where ICE has been deployed to airports.
The PHL employee at the Houston airport said they were notified on March 8 that they would be deployed to Houston the following day, and there’s a chance they could be staying until mid-April.
Employees will receive a per diem at the end of the shutdown for their deployment and will only have to pay back their spending on food, the employee said. The flight to Houston and costs associated with lodging are being covered by the federal government.
Despite the uncertainty, the PHL employee feels a larger calling to help the overstressed airports nationwide.
“I’m a good worker, and my work ethic speaks for itself; I can just go out, help other airports, and contribute, make a bigger contribution. So why not do that?” the employee said.
Staff Writer Sam Janesch contributed to this article.