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![\"Columbus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/70bec8aa703ff199454c6864fecd839b_MLS_Columbus_Toronto_Soccer_96591.jpg.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\nColumbus Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte (28) makes a save against Toronto FC during the first half of an MLS soccer game in Toronto, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (Jon Blacker\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\n
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FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Evan Louro starts in place of injured goalkeeper Roman Celentano during the first half of an MLS soccer match against CF Montr\u00e9al, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo\/Kareem Elgazzar)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump’s decision to order federal immigration agents to U.S. airports to help with security during a budget impasse is drawing concerns that their presence may escalate tensions among air travelers frustrated over hourslong waits and screeners angry about missed paychecks.<\/p>\n Trump made clear on Sunday that he was going ahead with the plan to have immigration enforcement officers assist the Transportation Security Administration by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs unless Democrats agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are demanding major changes to federal immigration operations and showing no sign of backing down.<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands of homeland security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month.<\/p>\n \u201cBad idea,\u201d said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the new airport security plan, which Trump said would start Monday.<\/p>\n “What we need to do is, we need to get the DHS issues resolved, we need to get the TSA agents paid,\u201d she told reporters at the Capitol, where the Senate held a rare weekend session. \u201cDo you really want to have even additional tensions on top of what we are already facing?\u201d<\/p>\n Senators advanced the nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to be Trump\u2019s next homeland security secretary by a largely party-line vote, 54-37, with two Democrats joining most Republicans. A vote on the confirmation could come as early as Monday. Mullin has tried to make the case that he would be a steady hand after the tumultuous tenure of Kristi Noem, Trump\u2019s first DHS secretary.<\/p>\n White House border czar Tom Homan, named by Trump to lead the new airport security effort, has also been meeting with a bipartisan group of senators over the partial shutdown. While he characterized those sessions as \u201cgood conversations,\u201d he said they were \u201cnot at a point yet where we\u2019re in total agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Homan said in Sunday news show interviews that the increased role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at airports \u2014 its specific duties and numbers \u2014 was subject to discussions with the leadership of TSA and ICE. DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said \u201chundreds\u201d of ICE officers would be deployed, but she would not disclose the airports where they would go, citing security reasons.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a work in progress,\u201d Homan said. The priority, he said, was \u201cthe large airports where there\u2019s a long wait, like three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n That was the case Sunday at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Some travelers waited in line for nearly six hours at the main security checkpoint, where only two TSA agents were on hand midafternoon to check IDs. Many missed their flights and scrambled to book later flights or add themselves to standby lists that were already dozens of names long.<\/p>\n Homan said immigration officers, as an example, could cover exits currently monitored by TSA agents, freeing them to work screening lines. Another option, he said, was having ICE agents check identification before people enter screenings areas.<\/p>\n “We\u2019re going to be a force multiplier,\u201d Homan said, while also acknowledging there were limits. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because we\u2019re not trained in that,\u201d he said. He pledged to have \u201ca plan by the end of today, where we\u2019re sending — what airports we\u2019re starting with and where we\u2019re sending them.\u201d<\/p>\n But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 TSA employees, condemned Trump\u2019s plan, saying in a statement that ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security.<\/p>\n \u201cOur members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,\u201d Kelley said Sunday. \u201cThey deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats have said they are willing to fund TSA and most other parts of DHS as they press for changes to immigration operations after the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis during an immigration enforcement operation. ICE officers are largely being paid during the partial shutdown, thanks to an influx of cash from Trump\u2019s big tax breaks bill last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are lots of ideas swirling right now,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. \u201cThe good news in all that is people realizing this has to get fixed, it has to get solved.\u201d<\/p>\n As budget talks stayed behind closed doors Sunday, senators said they had few details of which airports or how many immigration officers were being dispatched. Some welcomed the effort.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it can hurt,\u201d said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. \u201cThey can help relieve some of the pressure.”<\/p>\n Trump said in a social media post that on Monday, \u201cICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job” despite the partial government shutdown. He further criticized Democrats.<\/p>\n Travelers at some airports worried about reaching their gates Sunday.<\/p>\n At Atlanta\u2019s airport, lines wrapped from one end of the airport to the other.<\/p>\n The scene appeared more chaotic at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Large crowds of anxious travelers piled toward security checkpoints, and TSA staff shouted through megaphones to tell people not to push one another.<\/p>\n For Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, one concern is the uncertainty that passengers are facing over possible wait times at any airport on any given day.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I have to come an hour and a half early? Do I have to come four hours early? They don\u2019t know until the day of or the afternoon of their flight,\u201d he said. \u201cSo if we can alleviate that, again, the president wants to take away that leverage point for Democrats and make travel easier for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in West Palm Beach, Fla., Anthony Izaguirre in Lindenhurst, N.Y., Yuki Iwamura in New York, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Margery Beck in Omaha, Neb. and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., the White House pick for homeland security secretary, testifies during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mariam Zuhaib)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n People wait in a TSA line at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
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