Feds send ICE to O’Hare as spring break, TSA staffing shortages converge

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrived at O’Hare International Airport Monday, amid a surge of spring break travelers and TSA staffing shortages.

“O’Hare can expect an estimated deployment of approximately 75 ICE officers across multiple shifts beginning Monday,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

“We will closely monitor the deployment and use every tool we have to ensure that people, no matter their immigration status, can travel to and from Chicago safely and without harassment,” the mayor said.

President Donald Trump ordered the deployment to major airports across the nation as the partial government shutdown drags on. The number of unpaid U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents absent from work hit a high of 3,450 on Sunday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported.

However, it was smooth sailing mid-morning Monday at Terminal 1, with security checkpoints moving quickly

“I got here super-early,” said Mary Nicholson Beresid of Highland Park, who was headed to Florida. “I expected long lines” after a friend’s daughter waited in line for 1½ hours Saturday.

Chicagoan Kiley Peart and her 4-year-old daughter arrived over two hours ahead of their departure to Colorado. “We were a little bit worried. We normally don’t come this early,” she noted.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis blamed Democrats in Congress for the shutdown.

“This pointless, reckless shutdown of our homeland security workforce has caused more than 400 TSA officers to quit and thousands to call out from work because they are not able to afford gas, child care, food, or rent,” said Bis, DHS public affairs assistant secretary.

“This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions,” Bis said, adding hundreds of officers had been sent to airports with lengthy security lines.

Following ICE raids and demonstrations in Chicago, Minnesota and elsewhere that resulted in the deaths of protesters, “I have concerns about the deployment of federal agents at airports across the United States,” Johnson said.

According to DHS, ICE officers at O’Hare will not be screening passengers. Instead, they will be monitoring exit lanes, making passenger announcements, helping to manage lines and other activities to allow the TSA to focus on passenger and baggage screening, Johnson said.

Sunday represented the highest call-out rate of the shutdown, with more than 11.7% TSA agents not showing up, DHS reported. The three facilities hardest hit were Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, JFK International Airport in New York and Pittsburgh International Airport.

Rita Williams and husband, James, were flying home Monday to Jacksonville, Florida, from O’Hare.

“We came here real early, just in case,” she said. Both were perturbed about the shutdown.

“People losing flights People working without pay. It doesn’t make sense,” James Williams said.

Regarding ICE, “they’re here to harass people,” he said.

Nicholson Beresid commented, “if we’re in a war, TSA should be funded. This is a dangerous time, and for them not to fund TSA, it’s not real smart. I’m not a big fan of our president,” she added.

DHS has been unfunded since Feb. 14, amid a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats, who are seeking immigration enforcement reforms such as prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks.

Trump posted on social media Monday that he supports ICE using masks during immigration enforcement but said he would appreciate agents refraining from face coverings while “helping our country out from the Democrat-caused mess at the airports.”

Democrats have criticized using ICE at airports, saying they are not trained for TSA operations and could improperly try to make immigration-related arrests.

Border czar Tom Homan said officers would be sent to more than 14 airports in all, but he declined to identify the locations due to concerns about public protests.

“We’re going to first send out to the biggest airports with the biggest wait lines,” Homan said on SiriusXM’s “Cuomo Mornings.”

· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.