The White House deployed immigration officers to help unpaid TSA workers, but they aren’t trained to actually help with security screening.
A traveler walks by three Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as they patrol the hallways Monday, March 23, 2026, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during the partial government shutdown in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the last few days have become a common sight at the airport, roaming around the atrium and baggage claim areas, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has observed.
But they haven’t been observed directly helping with the long security lines bedeviling passengers and their Department of Homeland Security colleagues in the Transportation Security Administration.
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ICE agents patrol near the arrival escalator Monday, March 23, 2026, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during the partial government shutdown. (Jason Getz/AJC)
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Demonstrators chant during a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, March 23, 2026, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. ICE was deployed to Atlanta’s airport to support TSA starting Monday morning. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
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— sretirw .gnitroper detubirtnoc dna yrahcaZ ,ihcuonamaY sgguS ffatS ylleK drawoH ,nesnaH einrE ekoorB
As a business reporter, Emma Hurt leads coverage of the Atlanta airport, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Norfolk Southern and other travel and logistics companies. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she worked as an editor and Atlanta reporter for Axios, a politics reporter for WABE News and a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
