Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are now assisting with long security lines that stretched out the doors at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport early on Monday morning.
Lines were long as TSA officers were absent, after going several weeks without pay due to the partial government shutdown.
TSA PreCheck continues to function, but Global Entry has closed.
Aniya Carter arrived seven hours early for her flight to Nebraska. She was concerned that ICE agents haven’t been trained for airport operations.
“I feel like that would cause a lot of things to get through scanners and everything else,” she said. “Or potentially stuff being missed that the actual TSA officers might catch. I don’t know, I think it could get hectic.”
On Monday, during a lull in massive lines, most ICE agents at Hartsfield patrolled security lines rather than directly help TSA officers, who remain unpaid under a partial government shutdown.
The presence of federal agents made Sam Rosales, on his second day of travel, feel uneasy.
“That’s very unsettling to have them in the presence of everyday stuff,” he said. “Not really protecting borders in Atlanta.”
Outside the airport, about 40 people protested against the deployment of ICE, including Atlanta city council member Kelsea Bond, who also denounced the construction of an ICE detention center in Social Circle.
“We want to be proactive and send a message before there’s a massive ICE deployment here,” she said.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said ICE agents will report directly to TSA officers as long as they are here.
The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Feb. 14, leading to the TSA situation.
