U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House for Florida, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2026.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to send federal immigration agents to U.S. airports unless congressional Democrats immediately agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. The Trump administration has faced heavy criticism for aggressive deportation tactics by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents.
Trump claimed ICE agents handling airport security would arrest immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, specifically targeting individuals from Somalia.
In a separate post later in the day, Trump said he plans to move ICE agents into airports as soon as Monday, telling them to “GET READY.”
“I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” he wrote.
The White House and the DHS did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
A bipartisan group of senators met with DHS border czar Tom Homan last night to discuss additional immigration enforcement concessions made by the White House on Friday in an attempt to end the shutdown, POLITICO reported, citing lawmakers in attendance.
The Senate is in session Saturday and Sunday, working on other legislative issues, but it is unclear whether further talks or a vote on the new DHS funding proposal will take place.
The DHS shutdown has been less disruptive than last year’s record-long government shutdown. But since much of DHS is considered essential, employees are required to work without pay.
The effects of the funding lapse and lack of pay are being felt at U.S. airports, where Transportation Security Administration agents are quitting or calling out sick. DHS employees missed their first full paychecks last week.
The shortage of agents has caused obscenely long lines at security checkpoints, including in Atlanta and Houston, where spring break travel is in full swing.
“If a deal isn’t cut, you’re going to see what’s happening today look like child’s play,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CNN on Friday. Earlier in the week, Duffy warned that smaller airports could shut down entirely soon due to staffing.
In a separate post earlier in the day, Tesla CEO and former Trump advisor Elon Musk said he would like to cover the paychecks of TSA officers as the shutdown continues.
“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk, the world’s richest man, said in a post on X. The average salary for TSA agents is about $46,000 to $55,000, according to a recent Associated Press report.
It’s unclear how such an offer would work.
Last year, Trump announced a wealthy, unnamed donor provided $130 million to help cover military pay shortfalls caused by the administration’s first government shutdown, the longest in history. That mystery donor was revealed to be Timothy Mellon, an heir to a renowned Gilded Age banking family, The New York Times later reported.
But Mellon’s donation worked out to only about $100 per service member. It costs nearly $6.4 billion to pay U.S. troops every two weeks. And such a donation might have violated the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from spending funds that have not been appropriated by Congress, the Times reported.
— Annie Nova and Dan Mangan contributed reporting
