TSA chief Ha Nguyen McNeill pushed back hard after Rep. Shri Thanedar questioned whether ICE agents could help in airports during a partial DHS shutdown, and the exchange highlighted how resource-sharing across agencies has eased strain at busy terminals.
The confrontation came as airports were struggling with long lines and stressed staff during a partial government shutdown that has stretched to 40 days. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) argued that ICE lacks the training to assist outside its core immigration duties and suggested the agency could not be trusted with screening support. That criticism set up a blunt rebuttal from the head of the Transportation Security Administration.
Thanedar accused the administration of effectively “telling TSO’s (Transportation Security Officers) that untrained ICE agents can do a better job than they can,” and he went further, questioning ICE’s basic enforcement capability. The line of attack implied these officers were a liability rather than a stopgap solution at crowded checkpoints.
“I’m extremely thankful to the President for recognizing the crisis that we are in and leveraging assets across the Department of Homeland Security to assist our agency in this very difficult time,” McNeill said. “And the ICE agents that have shown up are there in support of the TSA mission, and we’ve been spending time training them the last few days, and we’re seeing relief, signs of early relief at the airports where we’re seeing long lines, and this is how we function as a department. We collaborate across the component agencies, and this just underscores the importance of funding the entirety of the DHS functions.
Thanedar doubled down on his skepticism, painting a picture of agents who were idle and unprepared. “Well, the ICE agents haven’t been trained to do their ICE work, and now I don’t know what kind of training you’re giving them in this short time, but I see them all sitting down looking at their phones or chit-chatting, but it looks like they have no role to play,” he said, accusing the administration of a clumsy fix rather than a serious solution.
McNeill replied with operational detail and front-line reports that pushed back on that portrayal. “I’ve been talking to my field leadership, the ICE agents that are there are non-specialized screening functions,” McNeill said. “It’s been incredibly helpful to alleviate the burden on our workforce, and we’re getting positive feedback from passengers and our field leadership alike.”
The back-and-forth shows a practical problem: airports need workers now, and cross-agency support is how DHS normally handles spikes in demand. Administrators emphasize short, focused training to put extra hands on the checkpoints, while critics want a longer-term, structural fix that doesn’t rely on borrowing personnel during emergencies.
But the political reality is plain. Democrats in Congress have so far refused to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, which would avoid the need to reassign personnel in the first place. The partial shutdown has lasted 40 days, and the operational strain at airports has been the visible consequence for travelers and TSA staff alike.
This incident also underscores a larger point about governance and priorities: emergency measures can and do work when leaders across agencies coordinate, but those measures are stopgaps. The simplest, least risky move is to fund the department so trained, permanent staff can carry out their duties without improvisation that invites criticism or jeopardizes security.
Editor’s Note: Democrats are causing chaos at airports and inflicting pain on the American people simply because they want to keep illegal aliens from being deported.
