Senior Trump officials seem to have no idea what ICE agents are supposed to be doing at airports

Two of President Donald Trump’s top officials went on national television Sunday to defend a plan to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports. Instead, they revealed a striking lack of agreement about what those agents are supposed to do. Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ + news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter. On ABC’s This Week , Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described ICE agents as capable of stepping into airport security operations, saying they “know how to run the X-ray machines” and “run those same type of security machines at the southern border.” He added that agents could help manage passenger flow and assist TSA in reducing long lines. But on CNN’s State of the Union , border czar Tom Homan offered a sharply different explanation . ICE agents, he said, are “not trained” to operate X-ray machines and would not be performing screening duties. “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that,” Homan said, describing instead a narrower role focused on “areas that don’t need their specialized expertise,” such as guarding exits and freeing up TSA officers for screening. Related : Trump says ‘no masks’ for ICE agents at U.S. airports The contradiction underscores the policy’s rushed, still-evolving nature. Homan acknowledged the plan was being finalized in real time, describing it as a “work in progress” even as the administration prepared to send agents into airports on an accelerated timeline. The deployment, which Trump told reporters was his idea, comes as TSA faces staffing shortages tied to a Department of Homeland Security funding impasse, with officials warning of long lines and delays at major airports. But the mixed messaging has raised concerns among aviation and security experts, who note that TSA officers undergo weeks of federal training, followed by months of on-the-job instruction, to operate screening equipment and manage passenger safety protocols — training that ICE agents do not receive. The Advocate reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for clarification on how to reconcile the differing accounts from Duffy and Homan and what ICE agents are expected to do on the ground. The department did not respond to a request for comment. Even within the administration, the basic contours of the plan appear unsettled. Homan said decisions about how many agents would be deployed, where they would be sent, and what roles they would fill were still being worked out on the same day he publicly discussed the rollout. That uncertainty is now colliding with implementation. As ICE agents begin appearing in airports, questions remain about whether their presence will meaningfully reduce wait times or simply add another layer of confusion to an already strained system. Images from airports around the country show ICE agents, armed and wearing body armor, meandering around, unmasked and at times uncomfortable being photographed or filmed. Watch Tom Homan tell CNN’s Dana Bash what ICE will and won’t be doing at airports below - YouTube www.youtube.com

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