SAN DIEGO — Some local officials are objecting to the Trump administration’s announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will begin handling some security duties at San Diego International Airport and other U.S. airports amid an ongoing partial government shutdown.
“I have no idea how they can contribute at an airport unless it was for intimidation purposes,” Aaron Vazquez, a TSA lead transportation security officer at San Diego International Airport and assistant airport steward for the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1260 in San Diego, told City News Service on Sunday. “What are they going to do, find somebody and shoot them?”
Federal officials said Sunday that border czar Tom Homan would oversee efforts to deploy immigration enforcement personnel to supplement airport security. The move comes as roughly 50,000 TSA employees are working without pay, contributing to increased absenteeism and staffing shortages nationwide.
Vazquez said his job is to ensure travelers do not pose security threats — a role he said is unrelated to immigration enforcement.
“I don’t want them anywhere near the checkpoint and officers that I’m in charge of. I don’t want them interfering with what the officers are trying to do,” Vazquez said.
“I don’t need an ICE agent telling passengers what to do. We are trained to be nice to passengers. They are law enforcement, so they are armed. TSA is not,” he added.
San Diego City Councilwoman and Airport Authority board member Marni von Wilpert also criticized the plan.
“ICE’s aggressive, abusive conduct makes us less safe. Putting ICE in our airports will make travel more chaotic, more stressful and less secure — not better,” she said. “ICE has already shown it refuses to follow the law and respect our communities, so I’m deeply concerned about what this deployment will mean for San Diego travelers and the thousands of workers at San Diego International Airport.
“The solution to long security lines and airport delays is simple: Congress needs to properly fund and staff TSA now,” von Wilpert added. “I have been in touch with San Diego Airport Authority staff and legal counsel. We do not yet know the full scope of ICE’s plans at the airport, but we are working to get answers and minimize disruption and anxiety for travelers and our workforce.”
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Poway, posted a photo of long lines at the airport Sunday morning, writing:
“View from the San Diego airport at 6:30 this morning. It doesn’t have to be like this. I have a bill to pay TSA workers, Coast Guard and emergency management without adding more to ICE and Border Patrol. Easy, right? But Trump won’t allow it. As the DHS shutdown drags into nearly 40 days, federal workers and travelers shouldn’t have to suffer from Republican inaction.”
Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the effort is intended to support TSA operations.
“We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker,” he said.
Further details about the plan were expected.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he would order ICE agents to assist with airport security if Congress did not reach an agreement to fund TSA officers. In a social media post, Trump said ICE agents could also be tasked with making immigration arrests at airports.
The proposal comes as a partial government shutdown has left roughly 50,000 TSA employees working without pay, leading to increased absenteeism and staffing shortages nationwide. Administration officials said about 10% of TSA workers have recently failed to report for duty, compared with typical rates of less than 2%.
“Officers have to take matters into their own hands and not come to work,” Vazquez said. “They are stressed. They are coming to me saying, ‘What can I do?’ They can’t afford gas to get to work.”
Before the shutdown, about 500 to 550 officers were available daily to screen passengers in San Diego. Now, about 70 to 80 officers per day are not reporting for duty, compared with about 20 before the shutdown, Vazquez said.
“They can monitor traffic of the passengers to make sure they don’t get out of line or go through the stanchions,” he said. “I don’t understand what we need help with if it’s not people who are able to screen the passengers.”
Meanwhile, travelers are being warned to expect delays. The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority issued a travel advisory on Sunday.
“Passengers traveling out of San Diego International Airport are encouraged to check their flight status before coming to SAN and plan to arrive at least two hours before their flight,” airport spokeswoman Nicole Hall said.
“Checkpoint wait times and flight scheduling are subject to the operations of our federal and airline partners. These operations are, at times, affected by the federal government shutdown.”
Hall said an influx of spring break travelers is also contributing to longer wait times, which could reach up to an hour in what she described as a “fluid situation.”
The average wait time at San Diego International Airport is typically about 20 minutes when fully staffed, with a maximum of about 30 minutes. However, some wait times on Saturday reached up to 80 minutes, which Vazquez called “unheard of.”
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