DHS Shutdown Leads to Travel Chaos at US Airports

A partial US government shutdown has lead to long lines for travelers and missed paychecks for thousands of government workers. Bloomberg News' Senior Editor Wendy Benjaminson and Managing Editor of Space & Aviation Benedikt Kammel join David Gura and Christina Ruffini this morning on Bloomberg This Weekend to break it down. Watch the show LIVE every Saturday and Sunday morning. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports if congressional Democrats don’t agree to a plan for funding parts of the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump said in a social media post that the ICE agents would not only assist the Transportation Security Administration in handling normal airport security but added he would direct them to arrest anyone suspected of immigrating illegally to the US.

“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia,” he said.

The spending impasse has left TSA workers without pay for five weeks, prompting some to call in sick and leading to lengthy delays at major US airports during the busy spring-break season. Although Democrats have repeatedly sought to fund TSA alone, those efforts have been blocked by Republicans.

Trump’s post singled out Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and one of the president’s frequent targets.

Read More: Travelers Battle Security Lines at Houston, Atlanta Airports

If Trump follows through with the plan, it would mean a new, high-profile role for ICE, even as the administration has sought to downplay immigration arrests after the agency’s turbulent and controversial enforcement actions in Minnesota that led to the shooting deaths of two US citizens. Trump last month ordered a pullback from the Minnesota operation.

Earlier this month, Trump removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin to fill the job — a shift seen as meant to help tame tensions.

ICE’s heavy-handed operations are at the heart of a spending dispute that has led to the two-week shutdown of DHS. Democrats have demanded that any spending for the agency come with an overhaul of immigration enforcement procedures. Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats were occurring over the weekend.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday described having “productive” discussions on Homeland Security spending the night before.

“The offer was made and legislative language was submitted by the administration to open up the Department of Homeland Security with a lot of reforms that had been requested and asked for by Democrats, and at some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer,” Thune told reporters in Washington.

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