Get ICE Out of Airports and End Its Mission Creep Now!

For 7 weeks, workers with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were not getting paid, while the U.S. government experienced a partial shutdown. But because these airport workers are considered "essential," they are required to come to work anyway - even without a paycheck.

It's no surprise then, that around 500 of these workers quit, many called in sick, and lines became longer and longer at airports. Instead of agreeing to a deal to pay these workers to solve this situation, Trump sent in the last people you'd want in airports - Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. And now, even after Trump has finally agreed to pay TSA agents, he's saying he might keep ICE agents in airports anyway - indefinitely.

Sign the petition to demand that Trump remove ICE from airports, and that Congress pass legislation to keep airports safe from ICE!

ICE agents are not trustworthy, and are deeply unpredictable. As we already know, ICE agents are responsible for shooting and killing two innocent civilians in Minnesota - Renee Good and Alex Pretti. ICE has also been responsible for an increasing number of deaths in detention centers. These agents are under-trained and pressured to meet "quotas" by rounding people up - sometimes even arresting citizens in their zealousness. The last thing anyone needs in an airport is the stress and fear of ICE agents looming around.

And it's not as though ICE has been actively helping TSA officers with airport security. Countless photos and videos show ICE agents standing around in clusters, joking and talking, leaning against walls, and generally just... lounging. Meanwhile, TSA officers were working without pay, watching as ICE officers were paid to do absolutely nothing, right in front of them.

The partial shutdown is because Trump and Congressional Republicans have been refusing to agree to basic, common-sense reforms to protect civilians from ICE. These important - but bare minimum - changes include banning ICE agents from wearing masks obscuring their identities, and requiring actual court-ordered judicial warrants before ICE can enter people's homes.

Then - suddenly - seven weeks later, Trump admitted that he could have been paying the TSA all along. He signed an executive order to ensure TSA agents would receive backpay, and then the Senate agreed to pass a bill funding Homeland Security without ICE. That bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

So apparently, other options existed all along. Trump never needed to send ICE into airports. And yet... ICE is still there. In fact, Tom Homan (Trump's so-called 'Border Czar'), said ICE will remain at airports for the foreseeable future. As he said: "We're going to continue an ICE presence there, and until the airports feel like they're in 100%." When asked when or if ICE would end up leaving, he said: "We'll see."

This is unacceptable. The mission creep of ICE does not signal good things to come. Already, Trump has been trying to expand ICE's presence as much as possible, even sending them to the Olympics in Italy - and now apparently they're going to be in airports indefinitely. Where does the mission creep stop? What does this mean for the future?

We can't let Trump get away with this. We have to stop this insidious spread of ICE into more and more jurisdictions immediately, before it gets worse. Sign the petition to demand: ICE out of airports now!