Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The Wall Street Journal [3/23/2026 11:30 PM, Erin Mulvaney, Michelle Hackman, Siobhan Hughes, Allison Pohle] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will begin trying to ease bottlenecks at airports on Monday, as the Trump administration scrambles to develop a plan to end hourslong security lines amid a partial government shutdown. President Trump said in several social-media posts over the weekend that ICE agents would help at airports if a deal wasn’t reached by Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security. His first post Saturday came as a surprise to officials inside ICE and at DHS, who have spent the weekend trying to figure out how it could work, according to three people familiar with the matter. White House border czar Tom Homan said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that ICE officials could monitor exit lanes to make sure people don’t enter through them, or check identification before passengers enter the screening area to free up officers to move customers through the lines with body scans and X-rays. “We’re trying to release TSA resources to get to positions that they really need expertise in, like the X-ray screening,” Homan told “Fox News Sunday.” The White House noted that Homan said that the plan was a work in progress and would be hashed out by the end of the day on Sunday. Travelers on social media reported hourslong waits over the weekend to get through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports serving New York City, Atlanta and Houston. The issue stems from an impasse in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement in addition to the TSA. Democrats have been holding up funding in exchange for new limits on the power of ICE officers, including requiring them to wear proper identification and banning masks. It remains unclear exactly what ICE’s presence at airports will look like Monday. Government officials declined to name the airports at which ICE agents will be stationed, but Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said he was expecting them to be present at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. ICE agents are expected to assist with managing security lines and TSA will continue to conduct passenger screenings, according to airline industry officials. Officials at ICE and DHS expressed frustration with the plan, saying it will distract from Trump’s core goal of deporting as many people in the country illegally as possible. They also said the move could take away from Republicans’ leverage in the funding fight should Trump’s plan succeed in reducing airport security times without Democrats giving in. Homan said Sunday that Trump had called him about the idea. “The president made it clear that, you know, we’re not going to wait,” he said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, asked about the plan on ABC News on Sunday, seemed to suggest ICE officers could perform different roles than those articulated by Homan, saying they would be useful to help with the lines and are trained to use X-rays. He said the president is “looking around every corner to make sure the American people don’t suffer during the shutdown.” “To manage the through flow of people and even administratively they’ll be helpful. But again, we have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents,” Duffy said. ICE officers aren’t trained in aviation security and putting untrained officers at checkpoints creates a security gap rather than filling one, said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees in a statement issued Sunday. TSA officers “deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be,” Kelley said. NewsMax [3/22/2026 5:31 PM, Staff, 3760K] reports that "Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country — especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families," Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Newsmax in a statement Sunday. "This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent," Bis added. Some 10% of TSA employees have been absent from work in recent days, with the rate even higher at major airports in Atlanta, New York City and Houston, leading to lengthy lines for passengers trying to get to their gates. Hundreds of TSA agents have simply resigned, according to their labor union and TSA. "ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!" the president, a Republican, wrote in a Sunday morning social media post. Details of how ICE agents would help with the lines were scant, although Homan told CNN a plan would be in place by the end of the day "to move those lines along.” Homan and Duffy, in separate interviews, had different ideas about how the ICE agents might be deployed. Homan said he doubted ICE agents would operate X-ray baggage and passenger screening machines because they did not have experience. Duffy, in contrast, said ICE agents "know how to pat people down, they know how to run the X-ray machines.”

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Wall Street Journal [3/23/2026 11:49 AM, Allison Pohle, Anvee Bhutani, Jennifer Calfas]
FOX News [3/22/2026 8:35 AM, Anders Hagstrom, 37576K]
FOX News [3/22/2026 6:32 PM, Staff, 37576K]
Washington Examiner [3/22/2026 9:19 AM, Claire Carter, 1147K]

Los Angeles Times [3/22/2026 7:15 PM, Samantha Masunaga and Mark Olsen, 12718K] reports what began as a social media post from President Trump on Saturday has grown quickly into a full-scale plan to deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports. Amid a partial government shutdown, Transportation Security Administration lines have grown to be hours long at some U.S. airports, creating problems for travelers across the country. Call-out rates have started to increase at some airports, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at least 376 TSA agents have quit since the partial shutdown began Feb. 14. By Sunday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that ICE would indeed deploy to airports beginning Monday. White House border advisor Tom Homan provided additional details earlier in the day during a televised interview, saying that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to dispatch agents to airports and that he was working with other officials to determine where to send agents. "It’s a work in progress," Homan said during a Sunday appearance on CNN. "But we will be at airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines along.” Homan stressed that ICE agents would provide support where possible, so that TSA staffers could better fulfill specialized positions. "I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because they are not trained in that," Homan said. But communication about how exactly this plan would work has been spotty. The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA officers, has not received any communication from Homeland Security on this issue and first learned about it in Trump’s Truth Social post, as well as through the press, said Jacqueline Simon, the union’s policy director. Dispatching ICE agents to airports does nothing to solve the problem at hand, which is that TSA officers have not been paid for more than a month, she said. "It’s ridiculous, and it’s potentially dangerous," Simon said. "It creates a security risk, it doesn’t solve one.” In a statement Sunday, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said Trump’s push to send ICE into airports "is proving the problem in real time.” "ICE has become the president’s lawless, under-trained, personal police force, deployed to serve his agenda — not the law," according to the statement. "That’s exactly why it needs to be reined in.” The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized the plan, noting in a lengthy statement Sunday that this was the first time a president has sent armed ICE agents to airports to replace security officers. "This is the exact opposite of what the American people are clamoring for, which are real, enforceable changes to rein in ICE and Border Patrol’s cruel deportation and detention obsession," Naureen Shah, ACLU director of policy and government affairs for immigration, said in the statement.

ABC News [3/22/2026 6:22 PM, Ford McCracken, 34146K] Video: HERE reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are trained and can assist with airport security, following President Donald Trump’s announcement that ICE would be sent to airports starting Monday. Duffy added that sending in ICE takes away possible leverage for Democrats. "Democrats want to see long lines at airports as leverage," Duffy told ABC News’ "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "President Trump’s trying to take that leverage away and not make the American people suffer.” Democrats blocked funding for DHS to push for policy reforms to ICE, including requiring agents to not wear face masks, wear body cameras and have warrants signed by a judge before entering a home or business. Republicans have so far rejected those proposals. But ICE has remained funded through appropriations from Trump’s tax and spending bill passed last summer, while key DHS agencies like TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard are left unfunded. Duffy blamed Democrats for the hours-long security line waits at airports, saying Trump has already made policy concessions. Some TSA officers have begun calling in sick or quitting as they missed their first paycheck since the shutdown began. DHS said that more than 400 TSA officers have quit so far. "I think you’re going to see more TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents as we come to Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week, they’re going to quit, or they’re not going to show up," Duffy said. "I do think it’s going to get much worse, and as it gets worse, I think that puts pressure on the Congress to come to a resolution." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
NewsMax [3/22/2026 4:15 PM, Brian Freeman, 3760K]

The Hill [3/22/2026 11:36 AM, Sophia Vento, 18170K] reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday the ongoing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) funding lapse is likely to make already long security wait times “much worse,” as the partial government continues. “I think you’re going to see more TSA agents, as we come to Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week, they’re going to quit or they’re not going to show up,” Duffy told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Sunday’s “This Week,” noting officers are likely to miss their second paycheck this week. “But without getting paychecks, it’s even that much more challenging,” he added. “They’re going to take other jobs to put food on the table and pay the rent. So, I do think it’s going to get much worse. And as it gets worse, I think that puts pressure on the Congress to come to a resolution.” A large percentage of TSA employees have continued to call out of work as funding negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remain at a standstill and travelers are experiencing longer security wait times at airports across the country. The shutdown could also prompt smaller airports to temporarily pause operations in response to the growing callout rate. DHS reported that more than 360 TSA officers have quit since the partial shutdown began in late February. Duffy on Sunday said he is urging TSA employees to go to work, adding that officers are “going to get paid.” “I’m asking for them to come [to work], and we’ve asked them to come to work,” he said. “They make family decisions that are right on behalf of their finances. But we want them to come.” President Trump announced Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers would be deployed Monday to airports nationwide to assist with operations amid the funding impasse. It remains unclear, however, what that would exactly look like. Duffy told ABC News on Sunday that immigration officers would assist airports with security operations, while White House border czar Tom Homan said they could help employees in mitigating long lines. Homan, speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, said the administration is hoping to hammer out a plan before Monday. “[ICE officers] run those same type of security machines at the southern border, right?” Duffy said. “Packages come through or people come through. They run similar assets.” “And again, even if we’re … look at the line there. To manage the through flow of people and even administratively, they’ll be helpful,” he continued. “But again, we have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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Breitbart [3/22/2026 11:56 AM, Pam Key, 2238K]

Washington Times [3/22/2026 10:13 AM, Seth McLaughlin, 1323K] reports Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that the TSA staffing crunch will worsen as long as Congress doesn’t fund the Department of Homeland Security. He warned that the situation could fester if Transportation Security Administration agents miss their next scheduled paycheck on Friday. “If this Homeland Security funding isn’t resolved, I think you’re going to see more TSA agents — as we come to Thursday, Friday, Saturday of next week — they’re going to quit or they’re not going to show up,” Mr. Duffy said on ABC’s “This Week.” Mr. Duffy said President Trump’s plan to have U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers begin helping TSA agents at airports starting Monday would be “helpful.” “TSA agents are law enforcement. They know how to pat people down. They know how to run the X-ray machines, because they are, again, under Homeland Security with TSA,” he said. “So if we can bring in other assets and tools to assist TSA to get rid of these lines, yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense.”

Politico [3/23/2026 8:57 PM, Cheyanne M. Daniels] reports border czar Tom Homan confirmed Sunday that immigration agents will be at airports starting Monday. In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homan told host Dana Bash that he is devising a plan with Tedd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Ha Nguyen McNeill, acting administrator for TSA, to determine where agents would best fit at airports across the nation. That plan, Homan said, will be finalized Sunday and go into effect Monday. “We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” Homan said, including “what airports we’re starting with.” Homan’s announcement comes as congressional Democrats continue to decline to approve funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless Republicans and the administration agree to significant changes to ICE. President Donald Trump this weekend threatened to deploy ICE agents at airports if the stalemate continued. “If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” The partial government shutdown has led to TSA staffing shortages, causing hours-long wait times at some airports around the nation. Homan on Sunday said DHS should send agents to locations with the longest wait times. “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that, but there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them into specialized jobs, help move those lines,” Homan said. Agents will also be conducting immigration enforcement while at the airports, something they already do “all the time,” Homan said. On Sunday evening, Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement that he has been informed that federal personnel from Homeland Security Investigations and ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations will be deployed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday morning. “According to federal officials, these personnel will be assigned to support operational needs directed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), including line management and crowd control within the domestic terminals,” Dickens said. “Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities.” In an interview with ABC’s “This Week,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that Democrats view the long lines as “leverage” for their demands of change. “Democrats want to see long lines at airports as leverage. President Trump’s trying to take that leverage away and not make the American people suffer,” Duffy said. “So, if we can bring in other assets and tools to assist TSA to get rid of these lines, yes, I think that makes a lot of sense. And the president’s looking around every corner to make sure the American people don’t suffer during the shutdown.” But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday said ICE at airports is “the last thing that the American people need ... potentially to brutalize or in some instances, kill them.” “We’ve already seen how ICE conducts itself,” Jeffries said in an interview immediately following Homan’s. “These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have for the most part, let alone deploying them in close exposure and highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.” CNN [3/22/2026 11:18 PM, Riane Lumer, Alison Main, and Aileen Graef, 19874K] reports Homan told CNN on Sunday that the move is about "helping TSA do their mission and get the American public through that airport as quick as they can while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols." ICE agents are expected to deploy to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday to assist with crowd management and support TSA operations, according to a DHS official and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. "Federal officials have indicated that this deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities. All federal personnel will report directly to TSA for the duration of this assignment," the mayor said in a statement. TSA officers have quit or called out sick, forced to work without pay amid a partial government shutdown, which has contributed to long security lines at airports around the country. Homan said he’d like to "prioritize those large airports with those long waits like three hours."

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NPR [3/22/2026 9:08 PM, Luke Garrett, 28764K]
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NBC News [3/22/2026 8:59 PM, Alexandra Marquez, Megan Shannon and Katie Taylor, 42967K]
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New York Times [3/22/2026 11:05 AM, Erica L. Green and Gabe Castro-Root, 148038K] reports Tom Homan, the White House border czar, confirmed on Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday, casting the operation largely as an effort to ease long lines that have caused frustration among travelers during one of the busiest travel seasons. ICE personnel, including agents from Homeland Security Investigations, are planning to be at 14 airports, according to a document obtained by New York Times. The airports span the country, including Kennedy and LaGuardia in New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston and Phoenix. The agents are expected to conduct tasks to free up Transportation Security Administration agents to handle processing travelers, according to an official from the Homeland Security Department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the location of ICE agents. President Trump announced the measure on Saturday, first as a threat aimed at pressuring congressional Democrats to agree to a deal to fund the Homeland Security Department, which includes the T.S.A., and then as an aggressive operation. He said on social media that agents would “do security like no one has ever seen before,” which would include “the immediate arrest of all illegal immigrants who have come into our Country.” In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Mr. Homan said that his agency was drawing up plans for deployment and stressed that ICE agents would help support security officials whose ranks have thinned as thousands have gone without pay amid a partial government shutdown. “It’s a work in progress, but we will be at airports tomorrow, helping T.S.A. move those lines along,” Mr. Homan said. The Homeland Security Department said in a statement on Sunday night that the deployment was necessary because of long lines for screening passengers, and it placed the blame on Democrats. But it did not give details about what agents would do at the airports. “Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hours long lines at airports across the country — especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families,” the statement said, adding: “This will help bolster T.S.A. efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.” With the deployment less than 24 hours away, administration officials apparently have not nailed down many details. Mr. Homan said that “his opinion” was that agents would concentrate on airports with long wait times at security, prioritizing ones with lines of about three hours. He said that agency heads were still discussing how many agents to deploy, how quickly to deploy them and to where. He said more concrete plans would be made on Sunday afternoon. “When we deploy them more, we’ll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” Mr. Homan said. Airports around the country have been smothered with passengers over the past weeks, hit with the combination of the shutdown and heavy spring break travel. At LaGuardia Airport in New York on Sunday, the wait in the line at T.S.A. checkpoints was as long as three hours. Sarah Estes, 41, a nurse from Dallas visiting for what she called a “girls’ trip,” said the airport website had estimated a 20-minute wait for T.S.A. PreCheck. But after they arrived, she said, they were told it would take at least two and a half hours.

Daily Wire [3/22/2026 6:42 AM, Frank Camp, 2314K] reports Border czar Tom Homan detailed the plan to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports beginning on Monday to aid TSA workers in the wake of the ongoing DHS shutdown. Appearing on CNN’s "State of the Union" on Sunday with host Dana Bash, Homan first explained that he is working with the administrator of TSA and the director of ICE to develop a game plan. "First of all, are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?" Bash asked, to which Homan replied that ICE already operates at airports, and this new wave of agents would be helping in mostly non-specialized security-related areas. "[We’ve] got TSA agents covering exits — you know, people that enter through the exits. Certainly a highly-trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit, make sure people don’t … enter the airport through the exits, and stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines," Homan said. "So, wherever we can provide extra security.” The border czar went on to note that he doesn’t foresee ICE agents manning X-ray machines because they’re not trained to do so. However, agents can be utilized in broad security roles allowing TSA workers to focus on specialized passenger screening jobs. Bash pressed Homan on the exact roles ICE agents would fill, but Homan noted that discussions are "a work in progress" and will be finalized by the end of the day Sunday.

Washington Examiner [3/22/2026 11:14 AM, Claire Carter, 1147K] reports as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers prepare to deploy to airports starting Monday to assist Transportation Security Administration officers, border czar Tom Homan outlined a limited support role focused on tasks such as guarding exits and easing passenger flow. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Homan said ICE officers would not replace TSA officers but instead fill gaps created by staffing shortages during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. "There’s TSA agents covering exits … certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer could cover an exit," he said, describing how officers could help free TSA personnel for screening duties. "I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because you’re not trained in that," Homan added, emphasizing that officers would stay within their expertise. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would be directing ICE to assist TSA after weeks of delays tied to the funding standoff, which has left many TSA workers unpaid and contributed to long security lines at major airports. Homan said he is meeting with TSA officials on Sunday to outline a plan to integrate ICE officers into airport security to be enacted the following day. He characterized the plan as a practical measure rather than an expansion of ICE’s core mission. "We’re simply there to help TSA do their job … in areas that don’t need specialized expertise," Homan said, adding that ICE officers already have a presence at airports to prevent drug trafficking and enforce immigration policy.

The Hill [3/22/2026 10:40 AM, Max Rego, 18170K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers will not be directly involved in security scanning measures at airports, a day before agency officials will begin assisting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees. “Wherever we can provide extra security, I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that,” Homan told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them off those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help move those lines,” he added. President Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier Sunday that ICE officers will “help” TSA agents starting Monday and Homan is in charge of the operation. The longtime immigration official said Sunday that he is “working on the plan” with acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill. “We’ll have a plan by the end of today,” he added. Homan also said that while the plan is a “work in progress,” it is his view that ICE should prioritize airports “where the longest waits are.” As the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approaches day 40, a significant percentage of TSA employees continue to call out of work — resulting in lengthy security wait times at airports nationwide. Some airports, including Philadelphia International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, have even closed security checkpoints amid staffing shortages. Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary of DHS, also said in a Tuesday release that 366 TSA officers have left the force since the shutdown began on Feb. 15. TSA employees received partial paychecks late last month and no paychecks at all last week. Now, with ICE officers set to assist at airports, Homan said the law enforcement officials are ready to do so. “ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already,” he told Bash. “They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports. But you got TSA agents covering exits, people that enter through the exits.” “Certainly, a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit and makes sure people don’t go through those exits, entering the airport through the exits,” he said. “And stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines.”

Bloomberg [3/22/2026 10:53 AM, Natalie Lung, 18082K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents assigned to help ease long lines at airport security during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown will only conduct “non-significant” tasks such as guarding exits, border czar Tom Homan said. “We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise such as screening through the X-ray machine,” Homan said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, referring to the Transportation Security Administration that is in charge of airport security. “Not trained in that, won’t do that.” Travelers are suffering through lengthy delays at major US airports in recent weeks due to the budget impasse. Employees of TSA, which the Homeland department oversees, haven’t been paid for five weeks because of the partial shutdown, prompting some to call in sick. Democrats have repeatedly sought to fund TSA alone in response, but those efforts have been blocked by Republicans. President Donald Trump posted on social media on Saturday that he was directing ICE agents to airports where “they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” and added that they would conduct “immediate arrests” of any undocumented immigrants with an emphasis on Somalis. Homan downplayed that aspect of the assignment, however, saying ICE has been present and conducting immigration enforcement at airports. “It’s not going to change,” he said. Homan said he was talking to ICE Director Todd Lyons and TSA officials to develop a plan by the end of Sunday that would go into effect Monday morning.

The Hill [3/22/2026 10:38 PM, Ashleigh Fields, 18170K] reports President Trump on Sunday said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will help with airport security for “as long as it takes” as passengers complain of longer wait times amid the partial government shutdown. Earlier Sunday, White House border czar Tom Homan said ICE would assist at airports but would not be involved specifically in security screening. The president told NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt that Democrats wanted to make a deal in regard to funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senate Democrats have so far rejected proposals to fund DHS that do not come with immigration enforcement changes. “Now that I did this, the Democrats want to make a deal,” Trump told Brandt in a phone call in regard to ICE agents helping at airports. “And I don’t think any deal should be made on this until they approve SAVE America,” he added. Trump has pressured Senate Republicans to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and largely do away with mail in ballots except for special circumstances. The president and a few House Republicans have vowed not to advance any bills until the SAVE Act is passed. The White House did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment on if the president would block the approval of a potential funding package. Meanwhile, DHS has been shuttered since Feb. 14. Democrats have played hard ball with Republicans on ICE reforms with demands for judicial warrants, no face masks and body worn cameras during immigration operations. Party leaders called for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired over the handling of investigations into federal immigration authorities following the death of two U.S. citizens. Trump dismissed her from his Cabinet earlier this month following outrage for her decisions while in leadership. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) has been selected as her replacement and faces a Senate confirmation vote as soon as Monday.

AP [3/22/2026 9:28 PM, Seung Min Kim and Lisa Mascaro, 16072K] reports President Donald Trump’s decision to order federal immigration agents to U.S. airports to help with security during a budget impasse is drawing concerns that their presence may escalate tensions among air travelers frustrated over hourslong waits and screeners angry about missed paychecks. Trump made clear on Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to have immigration enforcement officers assist the Transportation Security Administration starting Monday by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have been demanding major changes to federal immigration operations, while the president issued a new threat Sunday night that he would reject all deals with Democrats unless they agreed to a separate elections bill. Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month. “Bad idea,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the new airport security plan, which Trump said would start Monday. “What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need to get the TSA agents paid,” she told reporters at the Capitol, where the Senate held a rare weekend session. “Do you really want to have even additional tensions on top of what we are already facing?” Senators advanced the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to be Trump’s next homeland security secretary by a largely party-line vote, 54-37, with two Democrats joining most Republicans. A vote on the confirmation could come as early as Monday. Mullin has tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump’s first DHS secretary. White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new airport security effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group of senators over the partial shutdown. While he characterized those sessions as “good conversations,” he said they were “not at a point yet where we’re in total agreement.” Meanwhile, Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at airports — its specific duties and numbers — was subject to discussions with the leadership of TSA and ICE. DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said “hundreds” of ICE officers would be deployed, but she would not disclose the airports where they would go, citing security reasons. “It’s a work in progress,” Homan said. The priority, he said, was “the large airports where there’s a long wait, like three hours.”

Washington Times [3/22/2026 12:53 PM, Seth McLaughlin, 1323K] reports the union representing more than 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers blasted President Trump’s plan to deploy ICE agents to airports, warning that putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints is not the solution. “ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security,” Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement Sunday. “TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification. You cannot improvise that.” Mr. Kelley said TSA officers have worked without pay for more than five weeks, with hundreds quitting, and accused Washington of responding to the crisis with a political stunt rather than a paycheck. “Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” he said. “They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.” Mr. Kelley called on Congress to act immediately. “Congress has the power to fund TSA today,” he said. “It’s time for them to stop playing politics and do their jobs.” The statement came after White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed Sunday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would begin assisting at airports as soon as Monday, saying they would take on tasks that don’t require specialized TSA training — such as guarding exit lanes — to free up TSA officers for screening duties.

Washington Examiner [3/22/2026 5:45 PM, Zach LaChance, 1147K] reports the largest flight attendants union in the United States has blasted President Donald Trump’s effort to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at airports, calling it an "invasion" and urging the government to pay Transportation Security Administration officers instead. "Flight Attendants will not allow the TSA and the frontline Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) who keep us safe to be used as pawns in this dangerous game, nor will we fly in an aviation system that doesn’t put our safety and security first," the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) said in a statement on Sunday. "This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans.” In terms of a solution to the shutdown stalemate that has left the Department of Homeland Security unfunded and TSA officers, along with other government workers, unpaid for over a month, the union argued DHS has the money to pay them but has diverted those funds to its other sub-agencies. "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has billions of dollars in discretionary funding that could be used to pay TSOs during this partial shutdown, just like they have chosen to continue paying active duty members of the U.S. Coast Guard. The administration has also continued to pay ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Instead of paying TSOs, they have chosen to create havoc in our airports," the statement added. Trump has supported TSA officers in the past, most notably during the 43-day full government shutdown late last year. But he went in a completely different direction over the weekend in trying to solve the funding dilemma. In what appeared to be a bid to both address security concerns at airports as TSA officers call out of work and get Senate Democrats to agree to a deal funding DHS, Trump announced that ICE officers would be deployed to airports on Monday. He originally suggested they would be focused on arresting illegal immigrants, with an emphasis on "those from Somalia." However, he signaled early Sunday that they would be directly assisting TSA in its work, adding that border czar Tom Homan is overseeing the deployment. AFA expressed concern in its statement about ICE’s lack of training in handling airport screenings, even in a supplementary role. "TSOs can’t simply be replaced. They undergo a six-month training program in which they learn to screen passengers while evaluating and managing risks within the unique context of an airport — especially how to identify disguised or disassembled weapons and explosives. This is expertise and training that ICE agents simply do not have, and cannot learn quickly. Furthermore, the introduction of ICE agents into airports creates contradictory missions, as attempts to question passengers about immigration status may distract them from ensuring airport security," the union said. "There’s one solution that immediately solves the problem at our airports. Pay the people who are already trained to protect us from terror attacks today, especially as the war with Iran increases the desire to strike against Americans. PAY TSA Workers now," they concluded.

The Hill [3/22/2026 11:06 AM, Max Rego, 18170K] reports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Sunday criticized the Trump administration’s plan to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports starting Monday. “The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or in some instances kill them,” Jeffries told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We have already seen how ICE conducts itself,” he added. “These are untrained individuals when it comes to doing the current job that they have, for the most part, let alone deploying them in close exposure in highly sensitive situations at airports across the country.” White House border czar Tom Homan, whom President Trump tapped to lead the operation, told Bash earlier in the program that ICE officers will help Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents “wherever we can provide extra security.” As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE and TSA, remains shut down, employees of the transportation agency have called out at increased rates — resulting in lengthy security wait times at airports nationwide. “We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as screening through the X-ray machine. Not trained in that. We won’t do that,” Homan added. “But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the nonsignificant roles, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker,” he continued. “And we’re just simply helping our fellow officers at TSA.” Homan also said ICE officers are “well trained in security and they’re well trained in identifications.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, however, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that ICE officers are used to operating X-ray machines at the southern border and will assist in managing security lines. The Hill has reached out to the White House, TSA, ICE and Transportation Department for clarification. Homan also told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” that ICE officers will relieve TSA agents from duties such as guarding exits, to allow them to focus on screening passengers. The Hill has reached out to TSA, ICE and Transportation Department for clarification. When reached, a White House spokesperson directed The Hill to Homan’s remarks on Fox News and CNN.

FOX News [3/22/2026 3:04 PM, Anders Hagstrom, 37576K] reports Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to U.S. airports on Sunday. Schumer made the comments while speaking on the Senate floor Sunday, saying Trump’s decision is "impulsive" and could make the situation at airports worse. "Today, Donald Trump and [Tom] Homan are saying they will deploy ICE agents to airports starting on Monday. This is really disturbing. ICE agents who are untrained and have caused problems everywhere they’ve gone lurking at our airports. That’s asking for trouble, and it will certainly make the chaos at the airports even worse," Schumer said. "No one has any faith in ICE agents. They haven’t received training. They don’t know what it is to be a TSA person and do what you need to do," he continued. "And the real problem here is they have no plan for using these ICE agents. Trump says, send them there. They send them there. And Homan says they’re still drawing up plans with less than a day’s notice. What is this? We know what it is. It’s another impulsive action by Donald Trump.” "Some idea pops into his head and he announces it. And then the people working for him, a few of whom do have some degree of talent and ability. Not many underlings. They have to rush to try and implement what they know is an idiotic plan," he said. The ICE deployment is Trump’s latest move in the battle with Democrats over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Schumer also used his time on the Senate floor Sunday to criticize Trump’s actions in Iran. "Donald Trump said, ‘you know, I may have a plan or I may not for a war,’" Schumer said. "There’s people’s lives are at stake. Billions are being spent on an almost daily basis. And he says, you know, ‘I may have a plan or I may not.’ These are the words of the commander in chief in the middle of a war involving one of the most dangerous regimes on Earth. ‘I have a plan, or I may not.’".

FOX News [3/22/2026 1:46 PM, Eric Mack, 37576K] reports President Donald Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for a near gaffe Saturday on the Senate floor. "Schumer got ‘discombobulated’ in the Senate yesterday, and said, ‘WE MUST FUND ICE,’ prior to correcting himself," Trump wrote Sunday morning on Truth Social. "Thank you Chuck, I agree!". Schumer and Senate Democrats are filibustering the SAVE America Act — an election integrity bill — but the minority leader was arguing the Republicans are responsible for the government shutdown that has left American airline passengers frustrated with long TSA wait times at airports across the country. Schumer did quickly correct himself by saying, "We must fund TSA now," but the irony was not lost on Trump, who has long reminded Americans that the government shutdown of Department of Homeland Security funding does not impact Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in real time, because ICE was fully funded in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Schumer’s call to "fund TSA now" was related to the Senate Democrats’ failed effort to isolate a funding package solely for TSA, but Republicans blocked that effort, noting the rest of DHS funding that is on hold due to the shutdown is vital to American national security amid strikes on Iran, too. Republicans negotiating on DHS, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chair Katie Britt, R-Ala., are meeting Sunday. "There are lots of ideas swirling right now, some of which you know my colleagues are talking about, but obviously what my sense is at least the good news, and all that is people realizing this has to get fixed," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on his walk off the Senate floor Sunday morning. "It has to get solved, but the best way again, to solve it is to get Democrats to support funding the entire Department of Homeland Security, you know, not picking and choosing certain aspects of it," he said. "So we’ll see where the discussions go today.” Democrats in Congress in February agreed to fund most of the government in exchange for withholding funds from DHS following the fatal shootings of ​two anti-ICE agitators in Minnesota by immigration ​authorities. The Senate failed to get the 60-vote supermajority needed to advance a Republican proposal to fund the entire DHS earlier in March, after Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, objected to an earlier Democratic proposal to separately fund the TSA earlier. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [3/23/2026 12:13 AM, Staff, 2524K] reports the outgoing DHS secretary was received by Nasry Asfura, with whom she discussed investment, migration, and security. Meanwhile, the final vote to confirm her successor, Senator Markwayne Mullin, is scheduled for Monday. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] Univision [3/22/2026 6:04 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports that, on Sunday, March 22, 2026, the Honduran Presidency announced via its official account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had visited the Presidential Palace. According to the official statement, the U.S. official arrived at the government headquarters to hold a meeting with Honduran President Nasry Asfura. This meeting is part of diplomatic efforts between the two nations to strengthen cooperation on strategic issues. Upon her arrival, Noem was greeted by the Honduran ambassador to Washington, Roberto Flores Bermúdez, who welcomed the U.S. delegation on behalf of the Honduran government. According to the information provided, the meeting between the officials will focus on addressing key issues related to regional security and bilateral cooperation. Noem’s visit—she also serves as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas—underscores the United States’ interest in working together with Honduras on security strategies. The meeting at the Presidential Palace reflects the ongoing dialogue between Honduras and the United States on security, migration, and institutional cooperation. Such engagements aim to strengthen partnerships and coordinate actions that have an impact at both the national and regional levels. With this official visit, Honduras reaffirms its commitment to maintaining an active agenda of international cooperation, particularly in areas that are priorities for the country’s development and stability. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [3/22/2026 6:21 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports Kristi Noem, special envoy for the U.S.-led Shield of the Americas initiative, met Sunday with Honduran President Nasry Asfura to discuss issues related to drug trafficking, organized crime, and migration. The former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security entered and left Honduras without saying a word. She arrived on a private flight at the Honduran Air Force’s Hernan Acosta Mejía Air Base at 11:45 a.m. and was immediately taken to the Presidential Palace. At least 10 armored vehicles formed the convoy that escorted Noem to the presidential palace, where she was received by the Honduran ambassador to Washington, Roberto Flores Bermúdez. She greeted the press for a few seconds and then entered the building. The meeting with Asfura began at noon and ended exactly one hour later. Noem immediately left the Presidential Palace and boarded a vehicle that took her back to the Air Force base.

The Hill [3/22/2026 1:46 PM, Alexander Bolton, 18170K] reports the Senate voted Sunday to advance Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) nomination to succeed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), taking a step toward restoring stability at a department that has been in turmoil since the fatal shooting of two protesters in Minneapolis earlier this year. The Senate voted 54 to 37 to advance Mullin, setting up a final vote on his nomination for Monday or Tuesday. Mullin picked up the support of centrist Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who cast a critical vote for his colleague in the Homeland Security Committee last week after the committee’s chair, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), voted “no,” citing concerns about Mullin’s temperament. Fetterman said he backs Mullin’s nomination because he sees him as an improvement over Noem and someone with whom he has a “constructive working relationship.” “We must reopen DHS. My aye is rooted in a strong committed, constructive working relationship with Sen. Mullin for our nation’s security,” Fetterman said. Fetterman and Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.) were the only Democrats to vote to advance Mullin on Sunday. Heinrich in a statement called Mullin a “friend” and said he would not get bullied by White House advisers who favor taking a hard line on immigration enforcement. “This is going to surprise some people, but I consider Markwayne Mullin a friend. We have a very honest and constructive working relationship,” Heinrich said. “I have also seen first-hand that Markwayne is not someone who can simply be bullied into changing his views,” he said. Democrats generally like Mullin, who’s known as a straight-talking negotiator among his colleagues, but they have serious concerns about the management of the Homeland Security Department, which they have refused to fund since Feb. 14 unless the White House agrees to reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) praised Mullin as “competent” and “honest” and suggested that Mullin’s confirmation could open the way to more productive talks to reform DHS’s immigration enforcement operations. “This is going to give us an opportunity to have real discussion about what’s going on with the Department of Homeland Security,” Welch said during a CNN interview earlier this month. But some Senate Democrats have expressed concern that the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement will continue to be dictated by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, whom they view as a hard-liner on the issue. Eight Democrats and Paul missed Sunday’s procedural vote. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

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National Review [3/23/2026 2:04 PM, Audrey Fahlberg] reports Senator Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), President Trump’s pending pick to replace the outgoing secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, wants Troy Edgar to serve as deputy secretary of the department under his tenure, National Review has learned. Edgar served as the ninth deputy secretary of DHS under Noem and was tapped by Trump in December to serve as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. His nomination was reported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month and now sits on the executive calendar. As deputy secretary of homeland security during Trump’s second term, Edgar managed the department’s daily operations, staff, and multibillion-dollar budget under Noem, whose tumultuous tenure is now ending after a year of infighting and controversy surrounding DHS contracts. Should Edgar serve under Mullin, who is expected to be confirmed as Noem’s replacement soon, he would be a familiar face atop DHS at a time of major staffing changes. Noem is reportedly taking many of her top staffers to the State Department to serve under her new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Noem allies who are expected to follow the outgoing secretary include Joseph Mazzara, Joe Guy, and Troup Hemenway, Politico reported. A spokesperson for Mullin did not respond to National Review’s press inquiry. Pressed for comment, a White House official said that “the administration has no DHS-related personnel announcements to share at this time.”

FOX News [3/22/2026 4:22 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports Democratic strategist Meghan Hays and Washington Times editor-at-large Alex Swoyer discuss the procedural vote on Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s, R-Okla., nomination for DHS secretary on ‘Fox News Live.’ [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Daily Signal [3/22/2026 3:00 PM, Anthony Iafrate, 474K] reports White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN on Sunday he thinks Democrats’ apparent decision to prolong the partial government shutdown is not due to differences in immigration policy but instead "execution.” Homan appeared on "State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash" on the 37th day of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) partial shutdown. The interview also aired two days after a poorly attended Senate chamber failed to fully reopen the department, with every voting Democrat except Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman opting to continue the standoff. Host Dana Bash asked the border czar what immigration enforcement policy changes President Donald Trump’s administration is offering Democrats "to end this impasse," prompting Homan to reply he thinks the real disagreement is not about policy. "I truly believe this isn’t really a policy issue. We have the same policies in place we had during [former President Barack] Obama and [former President Joe] Biden and [former President Bill] Clinton and [former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush]," Homan told Bash.

Washington Examiner [3/22/2026 9:57 PM, Zach LaChance, 1147K] reports President Donald Trump signaled he is open to a $5 billion funding cut for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, along with other amendments. “I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,’” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night. “It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate, and that includes giving these same terrible people, the Dems (who are to blame for this mess!), a Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, a deal which, even when disguised as something else, is unacceptable to me and the American people – UNLESS it includes their approval of Voter I.D., (with picture!), Citizenship to Vote, No Mail-In Voting (with exceptions), All Paper Ballots, No Men In Women’s Sports, and No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our precious children.” The president then urged Senate Republicans to combine all of those bills and amendments into one piece of legislation, eliminate the filibuster, and skip their two-week Easter recess, due to start at the end of this week, if needed to pass it. Trump also warned Republicans against voting to strike down what is now slated to be a massive bill. "Let Leader Thune clearly identify those few ‘Republicans’ that are Voting against AMERICA. They will never be elected again!" he added. Trump’s post marks the first concession he has made to Democrats since the shutdown stalemate over Department of Homeland Security funding began over a month ago.

Reuters [3/22/2026 8:41 PM, Kanishka Singh and Sinéad Carew, 38315K] reports President Donald Trump on Sunday said his fellow Republicans should not reach an agreement on funding the Department of Homeland Security until Democrats in Congress approve a bill that requires people registering to vote to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. In a post on social media, Trump said congressional Republicans should not make "any deal" with Democrats until they agree to pass the voter bill known as the Save America Act. Trump pointed to Democratic lawmakers’ demands related to a dispute over DHS funding that has left the agency unfunded since February 13. The lack of funds has meant tens of thousands of Transportation ⁠Security Administration personnel have worked without pay for five weeks, leading some airport security workers to call in sick or quit entirely. TSA absences this weekend reached their highest level since the partial government shutdown began, DHS said on Sunday. Passing the voter bill, Trump wrote, is "far more important than anything else" on the Senate’s agenda, including DHS funding. The president had already threatened on March 8 to withhold his signature from any other legislation until Congress passes the Republican-backed voting bill. The bill currently lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome Democratic opposition in the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats. Trump on Sunday also pushed for Democratic approval for ⁠other items he wants added to the bill, including banning transgender women from women’s sports, outlawing "transgender mutilation of our children" and restricting mail-in ballots except in cases of illness, disability, military service or travel. Republicans have resisted Democratic lawmakers’ demands for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a condition of DHS funding. In an attempt to ramp ⁠up pressure on Democrats, Trump this weekend said he would put ICE agents in airports until Democratic lawmakers agree to a DHS budget bill. Trump on Sunday said he would deploy ICE personnel at airports "for as long as it takes," ⁠according to NewsNation. Proponents of the Save America Act have argued that it would help deter voter fraud. Republicans have echoed Trump’s false claims that large numbers of people who are in the country illegally vote ⁠in U.S. elections. Democrats and other critics of the bill have argued that it could disenfranchise Americans who lack ready access to passports, birth certificates and other forms of identification.

Breitbart [3/22/2026 9:42 PM, Elizabeth Weibel, 2238K] reports President Donald Trump said that while Democrat lawmakers want to make a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he feels there should be no deal made "until they approve" the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. In a post on X, Hannah Brandt, a Washington, DC, Correspondent for NewsNation, shared that during a phone call with Trump, she asked him, "How long he’s prepared to have" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at airports. Brandt’s question to Trump comes after he announced over the weekend that if Democrats do not agree to fund DHS, he will place ICE agents at airports where "they will do Security," including arresting illegal aliens. "In a phone call just minutes ago President Trump told me Democrats want to make a deal on DHS funding but he doesn’t ‘think any deal should be made on this until they approve save America,’" Brandt wrote. "First I asked him how long he’s prepared to have ice agents help out at airports," Brandt added. "He told me, ‘For as long as it takes.’". Brandt also shared that she brought up how "some lawmakers" have suggested funding the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as lawmakers have still not come to an agreement regarding funding for DHS. Trump said that now that he has suggested placing ICE agents at the airports, "Democrats want to make a deal." "I don’t think any deal should be made on this until they approve SAVE America," Trump told Brandt.

CNN [3/22/2026 10:29 AM, Dana Bash, 19874K] reports White House Border Czar Tom Homan tells Dana Bash isn’t offering Democrats “really significant policy changes” to immigration enforcement and says “we certainly can’t surrender ICE’s authorities and their congressionally mandated job.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Chicago Tribune [3/22/2026 10:00 AM, Alexandra Kukulka, 5209K] reports as the Senate began to debate a stricter voter registration bill this week, voter rights organizations are speaking out against the bill while conservative groups are touting its benefits. Republicans launched a rare effort on Tuesday to hold the Senate floor and talk for days about the SAVE America Act, which they know won’t pass, but it’s an attempt to capture public attention on legislation requiring stricter voter registration rules as President Donald Trump pressures Congress to act before November’s midterm elections. The talkathon could last a week or longer, potentially through the weekend, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune tries to navigate Trump’s insistence on the issue and Democrats’ united opposition. Trump has urged Thune to scrap the legislative filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate, but Thune has repeatedly said he doesn’t have the votes to do that. The bill contains provisions that Trump and his most loyal supporters have pushed as part of a broad effort to assert federal control over elections. It would require voters nationwide to provide proof of citizenship when they register and to show accepted voter identification when casting a ballot. It would also create new penalties for election workers who register voters without proof of citizenship and require states to hand voter data over to the Department of Homeland Security, so federal officials could screen for voters who are in the country illegally. The Department of Justice has sought voter registration data from states, but has had limited success.

AP [3/22/2026 8:16 PM, Staff, 35287K] reports Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) warns that the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act is being widely misunderstood, as a standard REAL ID driver’s license does not qualify as proof of U.S. citizenship under the bill and therefore cannot be used to register to vote. The SAVE Act requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Conversely, the REAL ID Act requires proof of citizenship or lawful status, and grants states wide latitude to determine exemptions for those who cannot provide the required proof. Thus, a standard REAL ID is not proof of citizenship. Only the Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL) version of a REAL ID indicates citizenship on the card. As a result, Americans who present a standard REAL ID would still be required to produce separate documentation, such as a birth certificate or Certificate of Citizenship, to register. CCHF raises concern that repeated references to REAL ID in public discussion—without this critical distinction—are creating confusion about what the SAVE Act would require. This may lead some Americans who would otherwise keep a standard driver’s license to switch to a REAL ID, believing it will be required to vote if the SAVE Act passes.

New York Times [3/22/2026 11:06 PM, Mitch Smith, 148038K] reports Loyola University Chicago was shaken last week when someone shot and killed one of its students, Sheridan Gorman, as she walked with friends near Lake Michigan. For days, the police said little about what happened, only that “an unknown male offender” had approached the group at about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, displayed a gun and fired in their direction. Ms. Gorman, 18, who was recalled by friends as generous and fun, was killed. As Ms. Gorman’s family and friends grieved, her death was thrust into the nation’s contentious immigration debate on Sunday when the Trump administration said that a man arrested in connection with the killing was from Venezuela and in the United States illegally. “She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians,” said Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, in a statement that called for the man to remain in jail. The man, Jose Medina, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, the Chicago Police Department said on Sunday. Mr. Medina, whose name was rendered as Jose Medina-Medina by federal officials, was arrested on Friday and expected to make an initial court appearance on Monday. It was not known whether he has a lawyer. It was not clear from police records whether Mr. Medina, who the police said lived near the Loyola campus on Chicago’s Far North Side, had any connection to the university or to Ms. Gorman, who was from Yorktown Heights, N.Y., in Westchester County. Her family said in a statement to NBC Chicago that she had been outside on Thursday morning hoping “to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.” “Our daughter’s life was taken, and our family will never be the same,” the Gorman family said in a statement shared with The Chicago Tribune on Sunday. “She was doing something entirely normal — walking with friends, close to home, in an area where she had every reason to feel safe. There was nothing unusual about her being there. There was nothing that should have placed her in harm’s way.” President Trump and his allies have repeatedly pointed to crimes committed by undocumented people as evidence of failed Democratic policies. During the 2024 campaign, the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, by a Venezuelan man became a central political issue. Since returning to the White House, Mr. Trump, who ran on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration, has repeatedly criticized Chicago and its political leaders over immigration policies. Hundreds of immigration agents were sent to the Chicago area last year, where they made hundreds of arrests, clashed repeatedly with protesters and engaged in conduct that alarmed federal judges. The city and the state of Illinois have rules that restrict cooperation with federal agents on civil immigration enforcement. The Trump administration has argued that those restrictions are unconstitutional, though a federal judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit that challenged those policies. The Department of Homeland Security said on Sunday that Mr. Medina was “released into the country under the Biden administration” in May 2023 after coming into contact with Border Patrol agents. Federal officials said Mr. Medina was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Chicago about a month later, in June 2023, and released. The status of that case could not immediately be determined.

FOX News [3/22/2026 6:38 PM, Matt Finn, Emma Bussey, and Bill Melugin, 37576K] Video: HERE reports the illegal immigrant charged with the murder of Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman entered the U.S. during the Biden administration before being apprehended and released into the country, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Sunday. DHS also confirmed that Jose Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national, had been previously arrested for shoplifting in Chicago, marking a prior criminal incident before the alleged murder. He is being quarantined for a potentially contagious condition — possibly tuberculosis — according to Chicago Police Department sources. A police source also told Fox News the shooting Thursday was an apparent ambush, with the gunman reportedly wearing a mask or face covering. Medina-Medina is believed to have been living in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. DHS also said in a statement Sunday that Medina-Medina was first apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and released into the country during the Biden administration. He was later arrested in Chicago on June 19, 2023, for shoplifting and released again — marking a prior criminal incident before the alleged murder. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also announced it had lodged an arrest detainer and called on Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary city leaders not to release Medina-Medina. "Jose Medina-Medina was previously released after an arrest for shoplifting in Chicago," DHS said. "Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life," said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. "We are calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods." [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
New York Post [3/22/2026 9:54 PM, Caitlin McCormack, 40934K]
Daily Wire [3/22/2026 11:20 AM, Jennie Taer, 2314K]

NewsNation [3/22/2026 10:49 PM, Natasha Zouves, Michael Ramsey, 4464K] reports a Chicago alderman says the city’s sanctuary policies may have contributed to the murder of a local college student who was fatally shot on the lakefront last week. Sheridan Gorman, 18, was killed Thursday in the Rogers Park neighborhood as she and friends were walking together. Police on Sunday announced Jose Medina-Medina, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and other offenses. The Department of Homeland Security said Medina-Medina is a “criminal illegal alien” from Venezuela who was released twice after brushes with the law — first, in May 2023, by the Biden administration and then the following month after local police arrested him for shoplifting. “This was 100% avoidable,” Ald. Ray Lopez told “NewsNation Prime” on Sunday. Lopez said Medina-Medina defied an order to appear in court for the shoplifting case, and an arrest warrant was not executed before Gorman’s murder. The alderman said he would go to Cook County criminal court on Monday for Medina-Medina’s pretrial detention hearing. Under Illinois law, a defendant can be ordered held until trial if a judge determines they pose a danger to the public, or they can be sent home on electronic monitoring. “You never know what’s likely in Cook County’s justice system,” Lopez said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged an arrest detainer against Medina-Medina, according to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson who chided Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago officials over sanctuary policies. Lopez has called for cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities in removing undocumented migrants who pose a public safety threat. He stressed, though, that migrants in general should not be categorized that way. “All immigrants are not like this individual. Many, overwhelmingly, want to be good future Americans,” Lopez said. “But when we have individuals like Jose Medina-Medina, who don’t care about assimilating, don’t care about our customs and don’t care about American human life, then they must be dealt with in a very specific and unalterable way.” [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Post [3/22/2026 4:36 PM, Victor Nava, 40934K] reports fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her alleged lover Corey Lewandowski were the butt of bipartisan jokes Saturday night at the Gridiron dinner in Washington, DC. The scandal over the $220 million taxpayer-funded TV ads approved by Noem, as well as her relationship with Lewandowski, both of which led to her ouster, were hot fodder for Govs. JB Pritzker (D), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) and journalists — who roasted the Trump administration officials over at the annual white-tie event. "I heard that Kristi and Corey have a safe word – ‘pardon,’" Pritzker quipped during his remarks. The line was a reference to The Post’s exclusive reporting earlier this month indicating that Lewandowski – one of Noem’s top aides – bragged that he could do "whatever" he wanted at the Department of Homeland Security because he believed Trump would pardon him. The Illinois governor also made light of Noem’s infamous account of shooting her family dog. "Did you see the hearings right before Kristi got fired?" Pritzker said. "Tom Tillis ripping into her. She had no response. It was like her dog ate her homework. But we know that can’t be true.” Meanwhile, Sanders joked that she sought out advice from Noem and others before the dinner. "Mike Johnson told me to do whatever President Trump says. John Thune told me to ignore whatever President Trump says. And Kristi Noem was a huge help. She said, ‘Sarah, just tell them that the president already approved everything," the Arkansas governor quipped. During a disastrous Senate hearing earlier this month, Noem testified that Trump personally approved the DHS ad campaign, which prominently featured the former South Dakota governor. However, in an interview with Reuters, Trump declared, "I never knew anything about it" when asked if he approved the ad campaign. "In Arkansas, a nice podium is too much for a public official," Sanders continued, referring to criticism she received for purchasing a $19,000 lectern, "but in Washington, it’s a $200 million ad campaign and three private jets.”

Washington Post [3/22/2026 4:33 PM, Andy Beshear, 24826K] reports President Donald Trump’s Sunday announcement that he will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports is a stunt, not a policy solution. But so is the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which deserves to have its funding restored as soon as possible. White House border czar Tom Homan said on “Fox News Sunday” that ICE officers won’t do X-ray screening but could guard exit doors and perhaps check driver’s licenses. The union representing TSA screeners responded that monitoring exit doors has been largely automated and the other tasks require specialized training. This donnybrook underscores why federal agents should not be in the business of screening passengers. There is no reason why nonunionized private contractors, following government-set standards, cannot perform every TSA function more efficiently and at a lower cost than federal workers. Major airports in San Francisco and Kansas City use private companies to perform screening without issue, as do most European countries. Rather than privatizing TSA or deputizing ICE agents to do jobs they weren’t hired for, the quickest solution is to fund DHS. The compromise has been obvious since the partial shutdown began on Valentine’s Day, but Democratic leaders have been afraid of getting crosswise with their angry base. Meanwhile, Trump didn’t want to look like he was caving, even as he recognized that his administration’s “mass deportation” campaign has backfired politically. The result is that TSA agents have worked without paychecks for five weeks, and many are now no longer showing up to work – even though they’ll receive back pay whenever the shutdown ends. The mayhem amid spring break, with travel horror stories, is creating momentum to act. Behind the scenes, negotiators have been making progress to fund DHS.

New York Post [3/22/2026 7:32 PM, Staff, 40934K] reports they wanted ICE out. Now they’ll have to pass through ICE on the way out of town. President Donald Trump is 100% right to use Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to supplement Transportation Security Administration agents at airports. Trump announced the move after Democrats last week again refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security — and as TSA lines at major airports began snaking all the way into baggage claim and out the door. In California, LAX and SFO have avoided the worst delays because they use private contractors. But travelers in San Diego were hit with unexpected, hours-long delays as the shutdown collided with Spring Break travel. The Democrats hope to use the suffering of American travelers to force Republicans to cave to their demands to kneecap ICE enforcement. But the president played a . . trump card. One irony is that the shutdown doesn’t affect ICE; it’s funded through 2029, thanks to last year’s "One Big, Beautiful Bill," which passed on a simple majority through the reconciliation process. So ICE officers are being paid, but not TSA agents. A worse irony is that Dems’ posturing over ICE translates to the shocking dereliction of duty of refusing to fund DHS while the country’s at war, with constant terror threats and several actual recent attacks. Adding a layer of chutzpah, the Democrats claim it’s Trump who is being unreasonable by not bowing to their anti-ICE agenda. ICE does necessary work: You can’t have real border enforcement if you give a pass to anyone who slips by Border Patrol — or who willingly submits to being detained, so they can receive a court summons and then disappear. Not to mention the "migrants" who just stay illegally after their visas expire. It’s also no accident that crime has plummeted around the nation over the past year, as ICE has been allowed to catch and deport thousands of foreign gangsters. Together with the National Guard, this has made some of America’s most dangerous cities — like Washington, DC — much safer. In yet another irony, left-wing activists have set up illegal "checkpoints" in various cities, checking drivers’ ID in the name of keeping ICE out. In other words, they’ve decided interior border enforcement has a use after all! Border czar Tom Homan says ICE agents won’t be involved in security screening or examining X-ray machines; they’ll take on other jobs to make up for TSA staff shortages, as hundreds of agents have quit since Democrats forced this (latest!) shutdown and countless more call in "sick.” And therein lies another danger for Democrats: Travelers who encounter ICE agents at the airport might realize they’re not remotely the monsters painted in media propaganda.

New York Post [3/22/2026 6:44 PM, Staff, 40934K] reports Team Trump "learned" from the fallout in Minnesota that there’s "real benefit in looking reasonable on immigration," cheers The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley A. Strassel. Good moves: Making border czar Tom Homan point in Minneapolis, ousting Kristi Noem from Homeland Security and rolling out body cameras on ICE agents. The White House also tapped "well-liked" Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem, and he addressed Dems’ "remaining concerns" about ICE. "Yet because it might rob them of their ‘issue,’ Democrats, hilariously" griped that "the GOP was giving them exactly what they want" — making "vividly clear" the DHS shutdown "is unrelated to DHS policy." Dems see they’re now "losing ground" and "scurried" to produce a counteroffer. Lesson for the GOP: "Good policy is good politics.” "Much to the delight of the liberal media," America’s allies were "getting their revenge" after a year of "Trump pissing off" and "demeaning" them for failing "to pull their own weight," observes Batya Ungar-Sargon on Substack. But "after weeks of huffily insisting" they wouldn’t help the prez on Iran, our European allies "decided it’s better to be there at the finish line than not have helped at all," and "issued a joint statement" stating "collective readiness to heed the President’s call" to "ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz." The liberal press again "got it backwards": It was Trump’s willingness to "put Europe on blast" that compelled the allies to act. Critics call Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz "a setback for, and a blunder by, the Trump administration," but Richard Porter argues at Real Clear Politics that it may be more a "feature" in US planning. "Iran’s erstwhile ally China suffers the greatest direct impact" of the move, thereby showing Beijing "that its oil supply chain is protected by and vulnerable to the U.S. military." Should the United States "seize Iran’s oil facilities on Kharg Island to squeeze what’s left of Iran’s leadership, the squeeze will be felt in Beijing, too." Europe, meanwhile, gets far less oil and gas via the Strait than it does from America — and the US request for help in reopening it exposes how "European left-wing governments" can’t stay in power without "voters sympathetic to the Palestinians and the Islamic Republic.” Joe Kent’s resignation last week as US counter terror chief "titillated the digital left," notes Spiked’s Brendan O’Neill, but the real question is "why he was there in the first place." His resignation letter "is a hot mess of witless foreign-policy posturing and infantile Israel-hate," written by someone who "knows zilch about global politics." To Kent, "Trump is merely gullible while the Jewish State is monstrously sinister." His animus for Israel "has the pungent whiff of antisemitic conspiracism." The MAGA movement, whose extremist fringe has embraced anti-Zionism, "needs to sort itself out" and reject "vain, self-exonerating hatred" for Israel, "because Israel isn’t the cause of your wars or your depression or your girlfriend troubles or your baldness.”

USA Today [3/23/2026 4:30 AM, Dace Potas, 70643K] reports that, following the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown failures in Minnesota, it became clear that change was needed. That started to happen with the administration’s pullback from its massive operation and, in optics, with Kristi Noem’s firing as Department of Homeland Security boss. I wasn’t sure whether that decision to fire Noem would be purely symbolic or genuinely lead to a different approach when President Donald Trump picked Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, as a replacement. We got some answers during his confirmation hearing, after which he advanced in the process on March 19. What we saw is that Mullin may not have the temperament to lead DHS, but his answers in his hearing at least make it clear that he wants to take a different approach to immigration enforcement than Noem did. There are some concerns about Sen. Markwayne Mullin. Mullin has a handful of issues as a nominee. The most high-profile of those were put on display with a fiery exchange between him and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky. Their personal dispute comes from comments Mullin made about Paul, in which he called him a "freaking snake" and he "understood" why a neighbor violently attacked Paul in 2017. Paul suffered broken ribs, several bouts with pneumonia and an eventual hernia surgery, and underwent years of recovery from the attack. Paul charged Mullin with being a man who encourages political violence, which may be the case, but I think that is a symptom rather than the disease. This isn’t the only time that Mullin has spoken carelessly. Perhaps even more pertinent to his role as DHS secretary, following the federal agents’ fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, Mullin rushed to call him a "deranged individual that came in to cause max damage.” In his confirmation hearing, Mullin expressed regret: "Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn’t have said that, and as secretary, I wouldn’t.” The concern in my eyes is that Mullin has been careless with what he said in the past. In the case of his Paul comments, it was an offhand remark in a moment where he was angry at a political rival. In the other case, his comments about Pretti likely stemmed from the fact that most of the MAGA world rushed to smear him as a domestic terrorist or an aspiring cop killer. In both of these cases, I think Mullin was extremely careless in what he said. Carelessness is different from malice, but it can throw fuel on the fire of serious issues regardless. Such careless behavior and rhetoric are part of what got Noem and others in trouble following the pair of protestor shootings in Minneapolis.

New York Post [3/22/2026 4:58 PM, Victor Davis Hanson, 40934K] reports Silicon Valley was energized by legal immigrants from all over the world who founded eBay, Google, Nvidia, SpaceX, Stripe, Sun Microsystems, Tesla, Yahoo and a host of others. The Greek-American Elia Kazan’s 1963 film "America America" is based on the Herculean struggle of the director’s uncle to immigrate to the United States. Immigrants in US today, vs. those in the past, are: It summed up Americans’ traditional view of immigrants: They had risked everything for the chance to reach America, and once there, became hyperpatriotic in their gratitude for the magnanimity of their new hosts. I grew up in rural California surrounded by hard-working immigrant farm families from Armenia, India, Japan and Mexico. Their work ethic, love of America and productive farms were models for US non-immigrants. My own Swedish grandfather, disabled by poison gas while fighting on the Western Front in World War I, loved all things Swedish, but not nearly as much as his beloved America. Four Hansons fought on the front lines of World Wars I and II. One was disabled, and another was killed. And all felt blessed their parents and grandparents had gotten to America. But something has gone terribly wrong with immigration — an open border, of course, but also a change in legal immigration as well as student visitors. While America is at war with Iran, crowds of immigrants, visitors and foreign students scream anti-American slogans as they cheer our enemies. On campuses, thousands of Middle Eastern international students have staged often violent demonstrations. They’re not shy about cheering on the Hamas slaughter of Israeli civilians. They haven’t just damned Israel but also often harassed Jewish Americans. Hating or loving the ‘Great Satan’? Take Dr. Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of Ali Larijani, one of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s murderous henchmen. He sent Fatemeh to the top schools in the satanic United States. She was eventually even hired as a professor at Emory University. To our enemies in Iran, we may be the "Great Satan." But Iranian theocrats apparently prefer their children study and get rich in Luciferian America. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a naturalized citizen from Uganda whose parents became public figures and multimillionaires in America, has had little good to say about his adopted country.

FOX News Sunday [3/22/2026 12:01 PM, Staff] reports Border czar Tom Homan joins ‘Fox News Sunday’ to react to President Donald Trump announcing ICE agents will be sent to U.S. airports to aid TSA agents as the Homeland Security funding impasse drags on.

CNN’s State of the Union [3/22/2026 12:22 PM, Staff, 1097K] reports White House Border Czar Tom Homan discusses recent talks to try to strike a deal to reopen DHS, touching upon the policy issues involved in the talks. In addition, Homan speaks on ICE training and the upcoming involvement in airport security operations alongside TSA workers.

CNN’s State of the Union [3/22/2026 12:22 PM, Staff, 1097K] reports Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries responds to White House Border Czar Tom Homan’s confirmation of ICE presence at airports in response to the DHS funding freeze.

ABC’s This Week [3/22/2026 11:58 AM, Staff, 2638K] reports U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discusses the impacts of the DHS funding freeze on TSA workers. Says, “it’s going to get much worse. And as it gets worse, I think that puts pressure on the Congress to come to a resolution.”

ABC’s This Week [3/22/2026 11:58 AM, Staff, 2638K] reports U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy discusses the rising costs of oil impacting travelers and airlines.

NPR [3/23/2026 5:00 AM, Eric Westervelt, Anusha Mathur, and Brent Jones, 34837K]
reports the Trump administration’s unprecedented expansion of migrant detention facilities is igniting fierce opposition in communities across the political and geographic spectrum, as the administration moves to scale up its detention footprint to fuel its campaign to arrest, detain and deport the largest number of immigrants in modern U.S. history. Flush with new cash — $85 billion in new funding, with around $45 billion specifically to expand immigration detention over four years — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is moving fast to lease and acquire warehouses and buildings across the United States with the aim of retrofitting them into detention spaces. ICE is also expanding contracts with local jails and private prison facilities as it builds out its sprawling detention footprint. ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the nation. ICE detainees have been held at more than 220 detention sites around the country, according to government data provided by ICE in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by NPR. These sites range from dedicated ICE facilities and private prisons to county jails, military bases and newly converted warehouses. Detainees are also being held temporarily in staging areas, hospitals and holding sites. The number of sites continues to grow. ICE’s biggest detention operations are largely clustered in the southern United States. Just five states — Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona and Georgia — account for just over 60% of the nation’s more than 750,000 ICE detention book-ins. (In the Deportation Data Project’s dataset, these book-ins are referred to as "stints." Most individuals have only one book-in per stay in detention, but some are transferred between multiple detention centers.) Texas had more than 200,000 book-ins across 115 facilities between President Trump taking office in January 2025 and mid-October 2025, the most book-ins of any state in the country.

Daily Wire [3/22/2026 1:59 PM, Jennie Taer, 2314K] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents have mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s plan to deploy them to airports to assist TSA during the partial government shutdown. Trump announced the plan Saturday to begin the effort Monday in the hopes of reducing airport security wait times as TSA officers report massive staff shortages as they continue to go unpaid. Multiple Department of Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire that there’s word that the deployment will consist of agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE whose mission goes beyond just investigating immigration-related crimes. HSI special agents are tasked with child exploitation cases, cybercrimes, and the smuggling of antiquities. They also maintain offices at several major airports across the United States, sources said. One ICE source said they "wouldn’t mind" helping TSA, adding, "However, a lot of us have reached our overtime caps.” "They would need to provide waivers … I don’t think it would jeopardize field arrests if that happens," the source added. Tom Homan says he’s working on the plan to deploy ICE agents to assist TSA at airports starting tomorrow. One area he said they’ll be able to help is monitoring airport exits, saying "I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they’re not trained in that."

CBS News [3/22/2026 11:35 AM, Emily Mae Czachor and Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51110K] reports the Trump administration said it is ready to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia and asked U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis to dissolve her order blocking that from happening. In a motion filed Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said the order is the only impediment currently preventing the U.S. from carrying out Abrego Garcia’s deportation. Legal filings submitted by the administration indicated that Liberia’s government remains willing to accept Abrego Garcia and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could arrange a charter plane to send him to the West African country in roughly five days. In a declaration, an ICE official said the agency is "confident that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s removal would be imminent" if Xinis were to lift her order. The administration similarly said in its new court filing that the government is prepared to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. "in an extremely expeditious manner" once it has been dissolved, and asked that Xinis issue a ruling on the motion by April 17. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

New York Times [3/22/2026 7:53 PM, Nate Schweber, 148038K] reports ebullient city leaders in Paterson, N.J., welcomed the Palestinian activist Leqaa Kordia back to her adopted hometown on Sunday morning at an event celebrating her release after more than a year in federal immigration detention. Ms. Kordia, 33, was one of several protesters investigated by federal authorities after being arrested at Columbia University in 2024 during demonstrations over Israel’s war in Gaza that ignited a national debate over free speech and antisemitism. The news conference on Sunday, held at Paterson’s City Hall, was accompanied by a boisterous outdoor rally at which Columbia students and advocates chanted contentious slogans in support of the Palestinian cause. “It’s been a long year, a tough year in ICE dungeons, but I’m finally free,” Ms. Kordia said, wearing a burgundy suit, a patterned head scarf and a pin that said “Palestine.” Outside City Hall, Ms. Kordia waved a Palestinian flag and led the crowd in chanting “globalize the intifada,” a slogan alluding to Palestinian rebellions that, along with “from the river to the sea,” has spurred intense debate. Palestinians and their supporters have said the phrases are a rallying cry for liberation, but many Jews consider them a call for violence against Jews and the elimination of Israel. Controversy over such rhetoric has swirled in particular around Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, an outspoken pro-Palestinian leader who has made statements in support of Ms. Kordia and pressed President Trump for her release during a meeting at the White House last month. After initially refusing to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” during the mayoral primary, Mr. Mamdani later said he does not use the phrase himself and would discourage its use. Mr. Mamdani did not attend the event on Sunday, but was briefly praised by Mahmoud Khalil, another Columbia protester who spent three months in ICE detention last year and has become an ally of the mayor. He turned to Ms. Kordia and spoke emotionally. “I never felt that I was fully free while I knew that you were suffering in the same place where I was,” Mr. Khalil said. “Because I know what it means.” Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for Mr. Mamdani, referred a reporter to the mayor’s statement on the day of Ms. Kordia’s release, in which he said that he was “grateful that Leqaa has been released this evening from ICE custody after more than a year in detention for speaking up for Palestinian rights.” In the City Council chambers, Mayor Andre Sayegh, Paterson’s first mayor of Middle Eastern heritage, stood before a large portrait of Malcolm X and spoke of Ms. Kordia’s return to the city, where she lived with her mother before she was detained, as a continuation of its revolutionary history. “Her freedom today is a joy for all of us,” said the mayor, adding that Ms. Kordia’s release marked “a very proud day for the City of Paterson, and the state of Palestine.” Paterson has a large Palestinian community; in 2022 the City Council renamed a stretch of Main Street “Palestine Way.” “Palestinians and Patersonians always overcome obstacles,” Lilisa Mimms, the City Council president, said on Sunday. When Ms. Kordia spoke, she quickly grew emotional. “I left behind many beautiful, courageous, innocent women and men whose only crime was just dreaming — dreaming of a better life for themselves and for their families,” she said.

Univision [3/22/2026 11:05 PM, Staff, 4937K] reports a federal judge ruled that clergy will be allowed to provide spiritual assistance to immigrants who have been detained by ICE agents at the detention center located at the headquarters of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell granted an injunction sought by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and a Minnesota-based Catholic priest, who had sued the Department of Homeland Security. According to his ruling, in-person pastoral visits are permitted for all detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple federal detention center in Minneapolis, where at least 3,000 federal agents were deployed during the protests against immigration enforcement. Judge Blackwell held that restrictions on the clergy’s religious freedom constitute “irreparable harm,” and therefore ordered both parties to meet within four business days to agree on the details of access, taking into account the government’s security concerns. If no consensus is reached between the two parties, they must submit a plan or separate proposals within a maximum of seven business days. Bishop Jennifer Nagel of the Minneapolis Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had been denied entry when she attempted to visit the detainees last Ash Wednesday. Following the hearing, she stated that ministering to people in crisis is an essential function of religions. She also said that the level of suffering in detention centers is high and that providing spiritual support is essential to helping people cope with that environment. The lawsuit argues that the Whipple Building, named after a 19th-century Episcopal bishop known for his defense of human rights, now stands in stark contrast to that legacy, having become a site of systematic deprivation of fundamental rights, according to the plaintiffs. For their part, government attorneys indicated that Operation Metro Surge officially concluded on February 12, and that since then detentions have decreased, allowing for the easing of restrictions and the authorization of visits by clergy for more than two weeks. However, the judge agreed with the plaintiffs that the problem persists, as there is no formal plan to guarantee access nor clear rules regarding who determines the conditions for allowing clergy to enter. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [3/22/2026 6:56 PM, Garance Burke, 12718K] reports nearly 600 immigrant children at a Texas detention facility lacked adequate food, medical care and mental health services while held beyond court-mandated limits, a court filing alleges. A 13-year-old girl attempted suicide after staff withheld prescribed antidepressants and denied her request to join her mother, court filings say. The Trump administration seeks to end court oversight of detention facilities, contending that conditions are adequate, while advocates call the facility a ‘hellhole.’. Nearly 600 immigrant children were held in a Texas family detention center in recent months without enough food, medical care or mental health services, as their time inside stretched beyond court-mandated limits, according to court documents. Children and families held at the detention facility in Dilley, where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were sent this year, also faced virus outbreaks and lasting lockdowns in December and January, although the total number of children held there has fallen in recent weeks, according to the attorney reports and site visits. The case of Liam, a preschooler who was wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack when he was picked up in Minnesota by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, stoked protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including among detainees who gathered and held up signs in the yard behind the Dilley facility’s chain-link fences. Last week about 85 children remained detained at the Dilley facility, but concerning conditions continued, said Mishan Wroe, directing attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, who visited in mid-March. In early February, a legal advocate for the children observed about 280 children. The filings Friday cited numerous poignant cases, including that of a 13-year-old girl held at Dilley who tried to take her own life after staff withheld prescribed antidepressants and denied her request to join her mother, as reported by the Associated Press. The government reported there had been "no placements on suicide watch," according to the filing. The AP obtained Dilley facility discharge documents that described a "suicide attempt by cutting of wrist" and "self-harm.” The filings were submitted in a lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation in 1997 of court-ordered supervision of standards and eventually established a 20-day limit in custody. The Trump administration seeks to end the Flores settlement, as it is known. "For years, the Flores consent decree has been a tool of the left that is antithetical to the law and wastes valuable U.S. taxpayer funded resources," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. "Being in detention is a choice.”

Univision [3/23/2026 3:07 AM, Staff, 4937K] reports that, between January and December 2025, the Trump administration detained 265 and deported at least 132 immigrant minors with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), according to official figures from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS provided this information in a formal response to a letter sent in June by Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and other lawmakers, in which they requested transparency and detailed information on the impact of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies on these vulnerable young people. The DHS data, obtained and released by NBC News, covers the period from January 20 to December 22, 2025, and indicates that, in addition, nearly 990 migrants with SIJS lost their legal protection under deferred action during that same period. In their letter to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Cortez Masto and the other lawmakers warned that changes in immigration policies were leaving minors—who had originally been recognized as vulnerable and eligible for immigration protection—in a state of “legal limbo.” Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1990 as a humanitarian pathway for foreign minors who have suffered abuse, neglect, or abandonment by their parents and whose return to their country of origin is not considered safe. It is granted to immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before turning 21. For a young person to obtain this status, a state court must determine that family reunification with one or both parents is not feasible, that the individual has been a victim of neglect, abuse, or abandonment, and that returning to their home country would be detrimental to their well-being. Unlike programs such as DACA—created in 2012 for young people who arrived in the U.S. as children—SIJS does not immediately grant permanent residency or a work permit. Instead, it authorizes the young person to apply for permanent residency (a green card), although in practice this can take years due to annual caps and administrative delays. In 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a specific form of deferred action for minors with SIJS, which protected them from deportation and allowed them to apply for work permits while they awaited their green cards. That protection was eliminated in June 2025 by the current Trump administration, meaning that many of these young people were once again exposed to deportation proceedings even with their SIJS status approved. According to legal estimates, there are more than 150,000 minors with SIJS on a waiting list to move toward residency due to processing delays. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

ABC News [3/22/2026 7:22 PM, Clara McMichael, 34146K] Video: HERE reports Saturday saw the highest call-out rate of TSA officers at airports since the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown began, according to exclusive data from the Transportation Safety Administration first obtained by ABC News. Over 3,250 officers called out Saturday, March 21, according to TSA data, accounting for 11.51% of the scheduled workforce. Airport security lines are growing nationwide as TSA officers, who haven’t received a paycheck for over three weeks, call out of work. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that he will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports beginning Monday unless Democrats agree to a funding package to end the DHS shutdown. Democrats are demanding reforms to ICE and Customs and Border Protection policies before they will vote to fund the DHS. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week" that ICE agents are trained and can assist with airport security. ICE has remained funded through appropriations from the Trump’s tax and spending bill passed last summer, while key DHS agencies like TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard are left unfunded. Duffy said that ICE does have proper security training, but could also help by just managing lines. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reuters [3/22/2026 8:10 AM, David Shepardson, Jonathan Allen and Kristina Cooke, 38315K] reports absences among transportation security workers this weekend reached their highest since a partial government shutdown began five weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security said on Sunday, while immigration enforcement agents prepared to fill in for them at some of the busiest U.S. airports. At airports in Houston, New York and Atlanta, more than one-third of Transportation Security Administration staff were calling in sick or otherwise absent, DHS said, as the shutdown left tens of thousands working without pay while congressional Democrats and Republicans argue over the DHS budget. To help fill the staffing gaps, hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deploy to airports starting on Monday, government officials have said. DHS said on Sunday it would not publicly share details about the ICE deployment, in order to preserve operational security, but sources briefed on the matter said the current plan calls for deploying ICE agents to 14 locations, although that figure may change. For now, ICE personnel will not be deployed in areas behind airport security checkpoints because they lack the specific clearance needed, the sources said. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement his office has been ⁠informed that ICE agents on Monday would be sent to Hartsfield-Jackson, the busiest U.S. airport in passenger numbers. Federal officials indicated that the ICE deployment would support TSA in crowd control and managing security lines in domestic terminals, and is "not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities," Dickens said. That contradicts a social media post by Trump on Saturday that ICE agents’ activities would include "the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country," particularly Somalis, a group that his administration has accused, without evidence, of widespread fraud and corruption. Democrats have held up funding for DHS while demanding a change in rules governing its immigration operations, which have killed U.S. citizens and sparked public outrage. Overall, more than 9% of TSA employees have been absent from work over the past seven days, leading to lengthy lines for passengers trying to get to their gates, according to DHS. "Many TSA officers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars — forcing them to call out sick from work," a DHS spokesperson said on Sunday.

Telemundo [3/22/2026 12:02 PM, Jay Blackman y Phil Helsel, 2524K] reports more than 400 employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have resigned since the partial government shutdown, which began on February 14, left them working without pay, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported. Funding for DHS was suspended due to Democrats’ demands for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), following alleged abuses and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. There has also been a 10% absenteeism rate at the TSA for more than half of the days last week, said Lauren Bis, acting undersecretary for public affairs at DHS, in response to questions on Saturday. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that on Monday, March 23, he will deploy ICE agents to airports across the United States amid the ongoing standoff between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate over DHS funding. “On Monday, ICE will be at airports to assist our wonderful TSA agents, who have continued to work even though radical left-wing Democrats—who care only about protecting dangerous criminals who have entered our country illegally—are putting America at risk by withholding funds that were agreed upon long ago through signed and sealed contracts, and more. But stay tuned: no matter how good a job ICE does, the lunatics leading the incompetent Democrats will be very critical of their work. They’ll do a fantastic job. The great Tom Homan is in charge!” the Republican wrote on Truth Social. Trump warned that, “no matter how good a job ICE does, the lunatics leading the incompetent Democrats will be very critical of their work. They’ll do a fantastic job. The great Tom Homan is in charge!” he said, referring to his administration’s “border czar.” Homan stated this Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union program that he was working on a deployment plan with ICE and TSA leaders. He added that he believes they will start at major airports that have experienced the longest wait times and that agents would man security checkpoints but would not assist with baggage screening. “There’s no doubt that a highly trained ICE agent can fill a security post. Making sure people don’t go through there, that they don’t enter the airport through that area, and things like that—freeing up a TSA agent to go to the screening checkpoints and reduce the lines,” Homan added. He added: “Wherever we can provide additional security—I don’t see an ICE agent manning an X-ray machine because [they] aren’t trained for that. There are certain aspects of security that are currently handled by the TSA; we can take those jobs off their hands and assign them specialized tasks to help move those lines along.” The TSA, which is part of DHS, has about 65,000 employees. Of those, 50,000 are frontline agents responsible for security at the nation’s airports. Of the TSA agents who resigned during the shutdown, nearly half have more than three years of experience and a third have more than five, the agency reported. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Los Angeles Times [3/22/2026 5:04 PM, Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Thalia Beaty and James Pollard, 12718K] reports that, across the country, collections are popping up to help Transportation Security Administration officers who have been without full pay for more than a month due to the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security. The charity World Central Kitchen, more accustomed to feeding those in war zones and disaster areas, started providing meals to Washington, D.C.-area airports after many TSA officers missed their first full paycheck. On Thursday, Feeding San Diego began distributing 400 boxes with pasta, beans and peanut butter as well as fresh produce such as strawberries and potatoes to affected agents near the airport after a request from TSA and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Nonprofits are stepping in to help and coordinating with airports and local TSA offices because ethics rules around giving gifts to federal employees make it difficult for those affected by the shutdown to receive help directly. Carissa Casares from Feeding San Diego said communicating with the airport means they can better tailor their resources and response to TSA workers’ needs. "We need to work directly with the people who have direct access to these employees and get this food to them at a time and location that is most convenient to them," Casares said. Sunday marks the 37th day that the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. Democrats this weekend tried to advance a bill to fund TSA separately, but Republicans balked, saying all of Homeland Security needed to be funded. More than 120,000 Homeland Security employees are working without pay, including roughly 50,000 TSA officers, as negotiations between lawmakers and the White House on limits to immigration enforcement drag on. The funding lapse comes just months after a 43-day government shutdown, the longest in the nation’s history, which caused long lines at food banks across the U.S. as more than 700,000 federal workers worked without pay. For those wanting to help, it’s not as simple as going to the airport and giving cash or gift cards directly to TSA officers, who are prohibited from accepting gifts at screening locations, according to a Homeland Security spokesperson. But Aaron Barker, president of the AFGE Local 554 in Georgia, said TSA officer unions don’t have the same restrictions and can accept donations to distribute to their members. Barker recommends those who want to donate look up their local union district on the AFGE website, or give through their local labor council. "For some people it can be life or death," said Barker. "It’s just sad and terrible that this is happening.”

CNN [3/22/2026 10:22 PM, Gloria Pazmino, 19874K] reports CNN’s Gloria Pazmino speaks to travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport about Trump’s plan to send ICE agents to airports amid the partial government shutdown. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX Business [3/22/2026 1:02 PM, Eric Mack, 7946K] reports airport security delays amid the partial government shutdown have created weekend travel nightmares, with massive TSA lines choking terminals across the country, unpaid officers calling out in growing numbers, and President Donald Trump vowing to send U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports to try to stem the tide of American angst. "This is insane," a frustrated passenger told CNN at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, regarded as the busiest airport in the world. "We didn’t think it was going to be this bad." "It’s pandemonium out there," another added in videos posted to social media this weekend. "We shouldn’t have to deal with this just to get on an airplane," an X poster raged — a complaint that now captures the mood at airports nationwide as travelers absorb the fallout from Washington’s funding fight. The chaos is being fueled by deepening TSA staffing shortages during one of the busiest travel stretches of the season due to spring breaks for schools and colleges. Officers are working without pay under the shutdown, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned absenteeism, resignations and delays are likely to worsen if the stalemate drags on. More than 400 TSA workers have already quit since the shutdown began Feb. 14, according to DHS. The immediate concern for travelers, though, is far more fundamental: getting through the checkpoint before their flight leaves. DHS has said more than 10% of TSA officers called out on more than half of the past seven days, with some airports averaging absence rates near 20%. At Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, the rate reportedly climbed above 40% on certain days. Those no-shows have forced lane closures, longer backups and wild swings in wait times from one hour to the next. "On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all," Trump wrote on Truth Social, hailing border czar Tom Homan as the fixer the TSA chaos needs urgently.

FOX News [3/22/2026 12:07 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports former DOGE head Elon Musk has offered to fund the salaries of TSA agents as the Homeland Security funding impasse reaches the one-month mark. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CNN [3/23/2026 12:47 AM, Karina Tsui, Martin Goillandeau, Lex Harvey, Shimon Prokupecz, Gloria Pazmino, Aaron Cooper, 612K] reports an Air Canada plane collided with a fire truck on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday, killing the pilot and copilot and injuring two others, a law enforcement official told CNN. Around 11:40 p.m., a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle, which was responding to a separate incident, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said. "Emergency response protocols were immediately activated," the spokesperson said. "The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation.” Two people inside the truck were injured in the crash, the official told CNN. The truck had preliminarily been cleared and was responding to a nearby flight that had requested assistance for an unknown odor in the cockpit, the official said. The Port Authority has not released any information on injuries. Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the nose of the plane. Jazz confirmed the incident involving Air Canada flight 8646 from Montreal in a statement early Monday. The CRJ-900 aircraft was carrying 72 passengers and 4 crew members, according to a preliminary list, the airline said. No major injuries were reported among the 72 passengers, the law enforcement source told CNN. The flight took off from Montreal Trudeau International Airport shortly after 10:30 p.m. ET and arrived at LaGuardia about an hour later, according to the flight tracking site FlightRadar24. The plane was going about 130 miles per hour just before it hit the fire truck, according to the last data point collected before the collision by Flightradar24. The New York City Fire Department said it responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle on the airport’s runway at around 11:38 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at LaGuardia shortly after the collision due to an "aircraft emergency." The airport is expected to be closed until 2 p.m. Monday, according to the FAA. Sunday’s collision comes as airports across the US have been thrown into turmoil amid the ongoing lapse of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has left Transportation Security Administration officers working without pay.

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [3/23/2026 4:26 AM, Staff, 1147K]

New York Post [3/22/2026 4:18 PM, Steven Vago and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, 40934K] reports the TSA funding crisis is wreaking havoc at Big Apple airports, with frustrated air travelers waiting up to three hours just to check in for their flights. "It’s insane," stranded Texas traveler Chip B, 66, said Sunday after spending 45 minutes on the pre-check line at LaGuardia Airport’s packed Terminal B. "If this is about getting short-handed with TSA agents, c’mon, let’s get them hired.” Chris, a 54-year-old Connecticut resident, had harsher words for US lawmakers. "Get their s—t together," he snapped. That’s what they need to do. "My big thing is TSA work isn’t a great job in the first place," he said while trying to board a flight to Fort Lauderdale. "They’re not getting paid while the politicians who are screwing up everything are getting paid.” One frazzled airline worker summed it up for The Post: "It’s crazy.” The airport chaos has hit the entire country, as a Capitol Hill squabble has agents from the Transportation Safety Administration working without pay. Many are staying home or calling it quits while spring break travelers scurry to get home. TSA agents remaining on the job missed their first paycheck last week. The holdup is a feud between the GOP and Democrats, who want to tie funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA, to more oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Both sides are blaming the other – while airline passengers mob airport terminals. "I’ve never seen anything like it," Jared Everett, in New York on vacation with his wife, said the mess has already delayed his 4:30 p.m. flight to Charlotte by 40 minutes. "This has been pretty irresponsible of our lawmakers to put us in this position," said Everett, 53. "We deserve better. They’re not the most functional group of people we’ve seen.” President Trump said he’ll ease the backlog by sending ICE agents into major airports beginning on Monday, a move some Queens air travelers said is welcomed. "Whatever helps facilitate the movement of people," Chris said. "It’s not their their job. I’d rather have our government get their act together.” This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.

New York Times [3/22/2026 7:39 PM, Tara Terranova and Ellen Yan, 148038K] reports the national shortage of Transportation Security Administration workers made for a miserable Sunday at New York City airports, where confusion, exasperation and impatience reigned as travelers waited in line for hours. The T.S.A. crisis, tied to a partial government shutdown that has meant thousands of employees have been working without pay, hit especially hard at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, where passengers were waiting at least three hours to go through security. It was unclear whether ICE agents, whom President Trump has said he will send to airports around the nation on Monday, would come to New York, and whether their presence would help or make matters even worse. At LaGuardia ‘s Terminal B, the line for T.S.A. checkpoints stretched through the building on Sunday afternoon. When travelers weren’t checking their phones or commiserating with one another — asking “How long have you been in line?” — they tried to catch the attention of airport staff members for updated information. Stephanie Kisgen, 44, an interior designer from Richmond Hill, Ga., and her husband, Patrick Kisgen, arrived at the airport four hours early for their 6:30 p.m. flight and weren’t sure if they would make it. They had come to New York for a Stephen Wilson Jr. concert in Brooklyn. After an hour and 15 minutes in line, Ms. Kisgen said she anticipated two more hours of waiting but that she didn’t really know. “I’m expecting the worst,” she said, a glass of white wine in hand. Jill Anderson, 49, an IT director from Chicago, also arrived four hours early with her daughter, Mary. They had come to the city to tour Fordham and Pace universities. They were toward the end of the line for T.S.A. PreCheck, which stretched all the way to the entrance to the terminal. Diana Greene-Chandon, 55, a neurologist from St. Louis, was flying home after visiting her daughter in graduate school at N.Y.U. “I fly a lot, so this is probably the worst I’ve ever seen it,” she said. “And this is the line for T.S.A. PreCheck. It’s like seven or eight loops. And then you finally get into this line, which I don’t know how many more loops we’re going to have to do.” At Kennedy Airport’s Terminal 4, the wait times were somewhat less painful, between one and two hours, though lines were snaking down hallways and across the concourse. Addison Freeman, 33, a musician from Austin, Texas, said the board predicted his wait was only going to be an hour, and that he was crossing his fingers. Like many of the travelers, Mr. Freeman was dubious about President Trump’s plan to begin using ICE agents on Monday to help at the airports. In a social media post on Saturday, Mr. Trump, who is pressuring congressional Democrats to agree to a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration, said agents would “do security like no one has ever seen before.” It would include “the immediate arrest of all illegal immigrants who have come into our Country,” he wrote. “Having ICE agents perform T.S.A. jobs makes me nervous because they’re not trained to do the job,” Mr. Freeman said.

NBC News [3/22/2026 9:02 AM, Charles Watson, 42967K] Video: HERE reports flyers at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J., had mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s plan to send federal immigration agents to airports amid the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been working through the weekend to fund TSA and alleviate staff squeezes, but a bill has not been passed yet.

CBS News [3/22/2026 9:54 PM, Staff, 51110K] reports Mayor Andre Dickens is addressing a planned ICE presence at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, as additional personnel are set to assist with operations, during ongoing federal staffing challenges starting tomorrow. In a statement released Sunday, Dickens said the City of Atlanta has been notified that federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations will be deployed to the airport beginning Monday morning. According to the mayor, those personnel will not be conducting immigration enforcement. Instead, they will support the Transportation Security Administration with line management and crowd control inside domestic terminals. "This deployment is not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities," Dickens said, citing information provided by federal officials. City leaders emphasized that all federal personnel will report directly to TSA during the assignment. Officials also noted that there has been no request for assistance from the Atlanta Police Department and no expected impact on city operations.

CBS News [3/22/2026 6:03 PM, Jared Eggleston, 51110K] reports travelers flying out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport faced hours-long TSA lines Sunday as a nationwide staffing crisis tied to the ongoing government shutdown continued to disrupt air travel. Airport officials are urging passengers to arrive at least four hours early, as wait times stretch well beyond normal conditions. Additional staff have been deployed throughout the airport to manage crowds, provide directions, and hand out water to passengers stuck in lengthy security lines. The delays come as the Department of Homeland Security reports more than 3,200 TSA workers nationwide called out Saturday — the highest number recorded since the shutdown began. For many travelers, the impact has been immediate and frustrating.

New York Post [3/22/2026 2:16 PM, Ronny Reyes, 40934K] reports travelers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport faced a hellish travel weekend, with TSA wait lines reportedly lasting nearly three hours because of the partial government shutdown. Dizzying images from America’s busiest air hub shows the security lines extending into the baggage-claim section of the airport on both Saturday and Sunday, with estimated waiting times reaching 153 minutes, according to a traveler. "The line is WRAPPING AROUND BAGGAGE CLAIM!!! THIS IS PURE INSANITY!!!!!!" Matt Van Swol wrote on X after arriving at the airport at 6 a.m. The staggering long lines at the Georgia hub and other airports around the country triggered President Trump on Sunday to order Immigration and Customs Enforcement officersto be deployed at airports to help clear them. After TSA agents missed their first paycheck last week because of the funding shutdown, daily absentism among workers soared. At Hartsfield-Jackson, that daily rate has reached as high as 40%, according to airport officials. Along with the lack of staff, the airport was also hit with increased traffic over the weekend because of spring break, with about 350,000 passengers expected to travel through the Atlanta airport between Thursday and Sunday, WSBTV reported. Tedi Zimmerman, who arrived four hours early at the airport for her flight to Florida on Saturday, told the outlet it was ridiculous for travelers to face such long wait times while politicians in Washington argue about funding. "Get your act together," she said. "There are priorities. This is one of them. This is crazy.” The security-line hell also has resulted in wait times hitting nearly two hours at Houston’s George Bush International Airport in Texas and more than an hour at New York City’s JFK International Airport in Queens. Even the TSA precheck line at JFK appeared to be at a standstill and stretched longer than the regular security checkpoint line, according to video of the chaos. "Even before dawn breaks, the continuing travel mess spawned by the partial government shutdown is apparent," Mary Murphy wrote on X of the 4:30 a.m. line.

New York Post [3/22/2026 9:30 PM, Pierce Sharpe, 40934K] reports flight chaos returned to California on Sunday as huge lines formed at TSA checkpoints amid a spiraling funding crisis. Passengers were stuck in two-hour waits at San Diego International Airport as the 40-day Homeland Security shutdown wreaked havoc across the country. It comes as the Golden State braced for a dramatic standoff over President Trump’s plans to deploy ICE agents to major terminals to fill gaps left by TSA agents. In a statement to the Post, Gavin Newsom called for the immigration unit to be "reined in," but would not comment on what he will do if officers are sent to California sites. Meanwhile TSA agents were furious over the plans, branding it "the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard yet.” Passengers reported misery at San Diego International from 6.30 a.m. on Sunday as lines streamed through check-in and delays showed across the boards. Pictures showed hundreds of flyers at a standstill across the major hub with many seen frantically texting while they waited to be ushered forward. U.S. Rep. Scott Peters claimed: "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.” Another traveler, Suajit, posted a shocking video of the bedlam, writing: "San Diego Airport is a mess right now, terminal two delays up to two hours and terminal one has just one TSA line with no pre-check.” Ellissee Maio added: "Two-hour wait time at the San Diego airport this weekend. Wondering what it will be like on Monday with news of ICE filling in for TSA… bet it cuts in half.” Flight Aware’s misery map also showed 174 delays out of San Diego Sunday, with four cancellations including on Delta, Alaska and SkyWest. Airport spokesman 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.” She added: "We appreciate the ongoing commitment from TSA, FAA and our partner airlines to maintain the safety and reliability of the national transportation system during this challenging time."

New York Times [3/22/2026 8:31 AM, Bernard Mokam, 148038K] reports that, just over a week after Saul Magallon’s wife gave birth to their first child late last year, a flood rushed into their home in Western Washington, carrying in 30 inches of mud, manure and sewage that forced the young family to move into a trailer in their backyard. Like many of the displaced in Sumas, Wash., Mr. Magallon, 26, has an answer for floods that have grown more frequent and more devastating: Dredge the Nooksack River. “All these people, including myself, want to see a difference, and they believe dredging is the right thing to do,” he said. It is not that simple. Climate change has brought more extreme weather to the Pacific Northwest, including an “atmospheric river” in early December that caused record flooding, killed one man and forced the evacuation of 100,000 residents in Western Washington. The deluge put a spotlight on some of the longstanding issues in the northern border region that may be exacerbating the flooding, such as overdevelopment in the floodplain and environmental protections for endangered salmon runs that Native tribes depend on. It was the second time in four years that floodwaters jumped the banks of the Nooksack and traveled dozens of miles through farms and cities on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border. At this rate, the next surge may arrive before officials can agree how to respond to the last one. And looming over the search for that response is dredging, which many see as a silver bullet, and some fear would be a disaster. The word represents the perennial conflicts in Washington between Indigenous tribes and the newer arrivals that have developed in the region. Gravel harvesting in the past may have increased flow and provided some flood protection. But tribal officials say dredging harmed wildlife habitat — and the tribes, by law, get a say. Treaties signed in the 1850s reserved the rights of the Nooksack Indian Tribe and the Lummi Nation to hunt and fish — and after much persecution by the state — established the legal basis for them to protect salmon. Three forks of the Nooksack rush down from the mountains of the North Cascades and converge near Deming, Wash., into a single stem that winds for 36 miles through farms, cities and towns, and then into the Puget Sound. When the river swells after heavy rain, the overflow rolls from that main stem into the cities of Nooksack; Sumas; and Abbotsford, in British Columbia. Damages from the 2021 surge surpassed $1 billion on both sides of the border. In Whatcom County, dirty water inundated hundreds of homes and soiled churches, city halls and a vital cattle feeding plant. The final tally from the 2025 flood may be higher. In Sumas, a city of around 1,500 people more than a dozen miles from the Nooksack River, three out of five households reported damages. “I may be the last mayor of Sumas,” said Bruce Bosch, the city’s leader. Some residents said they had qualified for federal assistance to raise their houses or simply abandon them after the 2021 overflow, but never received the money. Then their homes were swamped again. The funds had been allocated but the grants awaited approval from the homeland security secretary, a position now in transition.

AP [3/22/2026 11:12 PM, Jessica Hill, 16072K] reports more than 2,000 people remained without power Sunday afternoon after Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years when heavy rains fell across the islands. Heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago. Raging waters lifted homes and cars, causing an expected $1 billion in damages. The storm prompted evaluation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu — though they were later lifted — and more than 200 people were rescued from the rising waters. No deaths have been reported as of yet, Molly Pierce, spokesperson for Oahu’s Department of Emergency Management, said Sunday afternoon. By Sunday afternoon, Hawaiian Electric restored power to about 1,200 people in Waialua on the North Shore of Oahu, according to the company. Customers’ power was proactively turned off Friday because of the flooding. Crews continue to assess the damage and make repairs, and Hawaiian Electric expects to return power to 2,000 more people later Sunday. In Maui County, about 100 people were without power Sunday afternoon, and all major outages were addressed on Hawaii Island, according to the company. The worst of the storms appear to be over, Hawaii meteorologist Matthew Foster told The Associated Press. By Sunday afternoon, the weather shifted from widespread showers to scattered rain from Oahu, Maui County to Hawaii Island, Foster said. Less than 5 inches (13 cm) of rain is expected for Hawaii Island, with between 1 to 2 inches (3-5 cm) in other areas. Winds will pick up out of the northeast sides of the islands, which have more vegetation and can handle more rain, Foster said. It will take a couple days for the moisture to push past the islands, and drier and more typical March weather can be expected by Wednesday. Additional flooding could still occur, but more on an isolated scale rather than widespread, Foster said. A boil water notice remained in place Sunday for North Shore areas from Mokuleia to Turtle Bay, and residents were encouraged to report damages to the city. Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, homes and a Maui hospital in Kula. Officials were concerned that the 120-year-old Wahiawa dam could fail, though that worry has primarily passed since water levels have dropped, Pierce said. The dam continues to be monitored. Winter storm systems known as “Kona lows,” which feature southerly or southwesterly winds that bring in moisture-laden air, have been responsible for the deluges in the past two weeks. The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii have increased amid human-caused global warming, experts say.

San Francisco Chronicle [3/22/2026 7:20 PM, Raheem Hosseini, Kurtis Alexander, Anthony Edwards, 3833K] reports that, as Hawaii emerges from several days of punishing storms and surging floodwaters that shoved homes off their foundations, nearly toppled an 85-foot dam and forced 5,500 Oahu residents to flee, the state is eyeing more than $1 billion in needed disaster relief and questions about whether the Trump administration will provide it. If California’s experience is a barometer, Hawaii may have a long and frustrating recovery road ahead. As recently as January, Gov. Gavin Newsom was still clamoring for federal aid to rebuild homes, schools, roads and essential services that wildfires in Los Angeles County decimated more than a year ago. In December, he was in Washington, D.C., telling congressional leaders that thousands of wildfire survivors in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena, Malibu and other parts of Los Angeles County were still waiting on the Trump administration’s formal issuance of a request for long-term recovery aid that Congress could then authorize. Newsom said federal officials refused to meet with him during the trip and that President Donald Trump’s “promise to ‘take care’ of survivors was clearly a lie.” Newsom said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delivered $5.7 billion to California for fires that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 31,000 homes. The UCLA Anderson Forecast estimated last year that the Palisades and Eaton fires caused between $95 billion and $164 billion in property and capital losses, and that employees and businesses in the affected areas could lose nearly $300 million in wages. As of Monday morning, Trump had not publicly commented on the storms in Hawaii, continuing a pattern of withholding statements of sympathy or support to Democrat-led states reeling from disaster. His TruthSocial profile Sunday morning was flecked with posts disparaging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who investigated Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election and whose death Friday Trump celebrated. Scattered to widespread thunderstorms and downpours were forecast to continue across Maui, Molokai and Lanai on Sunday, raising flood risk in areas that had already received historic rainfall in recent weeks. Oahu, while not completely dry, appeared to be spared from the strongest storms, though any additional rain would “exacerbate the ongoing flooding,” the National Weather Service said. Kahului Airport on Maui has received 20 inches of rain since March 1, already its wettest month on record and nearly 2 inches more than its annual average. This has been Honolulu’s wettest month in two decades. Flash flooding remained possible “across the rest of the island chain through Sunday,” the weather service said. “Rock and mudslides are also possible in areas of steep terrain.”

FOX News [3/22/2026 1:44 PM, Staff, 37576K] reports residents woke up to flooded homes and waist-high water filling streets after torrential rain triggered widespread flooding in parts of Oahu, Hawaii. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

San Francisco Chronicle [3/22/2026 10:50 PM, Anna Bauman, 3833K] reports the U.S. Department of State issued a “worldwide caution” security alert Sunday, instructing Americans who are abroad to “exercise increased caution,” especially in the Middle East, amid the ongoing war in Iran. Americans should follow guidance from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and be aware that periodic airspace closures “may cause travel disruptions,” according to the State Department. More than 2,000 people have been killed since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes in Iran in late February, triggering a conflict that has widened across the Middle East, according to the Associated Press. The crisis has centered in recent days on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to the global oil supply, with President Donald Trump demanding its reopening after Iran effectively closed it. In the travel alert issued Sunday, U.S. officials said locations associated with the U.S. — even outside the Middle East — may become targets in the ongoing war. “U.S. diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted,” the alert said. “Groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world.” The government encouraged Americans who are traveling abroad to enroll in a program called STEP, or the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which allows U.S. officials to quickly contact them in case of an emergency. The State Department also has a WhatsApp channel where Americans can follow the latest security alerts. Travelers should also be aware of country-specific travel advisories, which the State Department updates every six to 12 months based on crime, natural disasters and other factors. The U.S. issued a similar alert Feb. 28 at the beginning of the war and in June 2025 amid conflict between Israel and Iran. Meanwhile, as Transportation Security Administration workers remain unpaid in the sixth week of a federal government shutdown, U.S. officials said Sunday they are deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports starting Monday. Atlanta, Houston and New Orleans have seen hourslong wait times at airports due to strained TSA staffing. Private contractors staff security checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport, largely sparing it from the problems seen elsewhere. It was not immediately clear how many agents would be sent and to which airports. The plan faced backlash from labor leaders and Democrats. “Replacing unpaid TSA workers with ICE agents is not a solution, but a dangerous escalation,” Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. “ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security.”

NBC News [3/22/2026 8:04 AM, Chantal Da Silva, 42967K] reports Tehran has threatened to escalate strikes on energy infrastructure and target critical water desalination facilities should President Donald Trump make good on a promise to "obliterate" the country’s power plants if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump on Saturday evening gave Tehran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the critical trade route, through which around 20% of the world’s oil passes, threatening in a post on Truth Social to target Iran’s energy infrastructure if the demand is not met. Iran has effectively blocked the strait since the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks on the country on Feb. 28, sparking swift retaliation from the Islamic Republic and triggering a wider war in the region. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News’ "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the Trump administration was leaving "all options on the table" when it comes to seeing the strait reopened. Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether the U.S. was scaling back the war against Iran or escalating, he said those two things were "not mutually exclusive.” "Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate," he said. Tehran on Sunday morning showed no signs of backing down, responding to Trump’s ultimatum with its own threat of retaliation as it vowed to strike U.S. and Israeli infrastructure in the region in response to any attack on its power plants. "If Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked, then fuel, energy, information technology systems and desalination infrastructure used by America and the regime in the region will be struck," Col. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, warned on Sunday, according to the IRNA Iranian state news agency. Desalination, the process of creating drinkable water from seawater, is critical to supplying water across Israel and many of Iran’s Gulf neighbors. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, echoed those threats in a post on X on Sunday, warning that "critical infrastructure, energy and oil across the region will be irreversibly destroyed and oil prices will rise for a long time" if Iran’s power plants are struck. Trump’s ultimatum came as the war consuming the Middle East entered its fourth week, with Iran targeting a joint U.K.-U.S. base in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, while nuclear sites in both Iran and Israel were attacked. The Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, reported that there was no leakage following the strike on its Natanz nuclear facility. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

AP [3/22/2026 8:15 PM, Alon Bernstein, Sam Metz, and Samy Magdy, 35287K] reports the United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be "completely closed" immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait. Israeli leaders visited one of two southern communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, with scores of people wounded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "miracle" no one was killed. Netanyahu claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving their war goals. The aims have ranged from weakening Iran’s nuclear program, missile program and support for armed proxies to enabling the Iranian people to overthrow the theocracy. There has been no sign of an uprising, nor of an end to the fighting that has shaken the global economy, sent oil prices surging and endangered some of the world’s busiest air corridors. The war, which the U.S. and Israel launched Feb. 28, has killed over 2,000 people. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an airstrike that killed a man in northern Israel, while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called Israel’s new targeting of bridges in the south "a prelude to a ground invasion.” "More weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah are expected for us," said Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin. Meanwhile, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said early Monday their air defenses were dealing with missile and drone attacks as air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain.

Washington Examiner [3/22/2026 11:47 AM, Claire Carter, 1147K] reports Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Donald Trump’s escalating threats against Iran, suggesting stronger military pressure may be necessary to force de-escalation in the widening conflict. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Bessent addressed Trump’s recent comments that U.S. forces would begin targeting Iran’s power plants if the country doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil artery. "This is the only language the Iranians understand," Bessent said. "The president will take whatever steps necessary to achieve those goals.” Bessent emphasized that the administration is intentionally maintaining strategic ambiguity. "He’s not going to give away what we’re going to do. … He’s leaving all options on the table," Bessent said. The remarks underscore the administration’s approach to the conflict, which has included a mix of military strikes, economic maneuvers, and warnings aimed at deterring further Iranian retaliation. The conflict has already disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, causing volatility in energy markets and concerns about rising fuel costs.

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