Trump Is Deploying ICE Agents to Airports. What About Denver’s?

Airports across the country are expected to see Immigration Customs and Enforcement Agents at security checkpoints this week, adding to wait times and confusion during spring break travel season and a government shutdown that has forced TSA employees to go unpaid for over a month.

Federal immigration officers have been spotted at fourteen different major airports as of 2 p.m. Mountain Time, including Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, both major airports in New York and Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico. Their presence comes shortly after President Donald Trump announced ICE agents would be brought in to aid TSA with security at airports, which he later called “fertile territory” for ICE.

But despite being one of the country’s busiest airports, Denver International Airport has seen quick security lines and no noticeable presence of federal immigration enforcement so far. Standard security lines are currently estimated to last no more than six or seven minutes, according to DIA, and photos shared online show sparsely populated lines and no ICE agents.

According to a report from CNN, thirteen major airports were expected to see ICE agents on March 23. The Denver airport was not on that list, but ICE agents have been seen at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, which was not included in the list.

In a statement to the Associated Press and the Denver Post, DIA officials said they “have not received any communication indicating that ICE agents will be staffing our checkpoints.” When contacted by Westword, DIA officials referred to the same statement.

When asked if ICE agents would be sent to DIA or other airports in Colorado, ICE’s Denver field office says, “For operational security reasons, we are not going to confirm the locations of our officers.”

“This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions,” part of a statement from ICE reads.

Airports across the country have dealt with long security lines throughout March as schools undergo spring break. However, TSA workers are among the hundreds of thousands of Department of Homeland Security workers who have been working without pay since mid-February, when Congress failed to approve DHS funding, causing the federal government to go into a partial shutdown. Security staff at airports have walked out, called in and quit their jobs during the second extended no-pay period for TSA since last fall.

Security at DIA has remained relatively smooth during the shutdown, but DIA was stuck with several headaches last week, including over 1,400 flight cancellations and delays as extreme weather grounded the East Coast, as well as a short loss of power that delayed flights and halted the passenger train for about an hour.