ICE Could Remain at Airports, Homan Says

White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday it is unclear whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will remain at airports once Transportation Security Administration workers receive back pay. Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, Homan said ICE's airport presence will depend on how many TSA officers return to their posts and how many have resigned, the Hill reports. "It depends how many TSA agents come back to work,' he said, per the New York Times. "How many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan coming back to work?"

ICE personnel, deployed to airports on Monday, have been assigned to check IDs, manage crowds, and oversee access to security checkpoints as the TSA grappled with staffing shortages caused by the partial government shutdown. President Trump signed an order on Friday to resume paying TSA employees. Asked Sunday why that didn't happen sooner, Homan wouldn't say, per the Washington Post. "I'm a cop. I don't understand the whole appropriations language, appropriations law," he answered. "I'm just glad that President Trump is able to pay the TSA agents."