Saturday saw the highest call-out rate of TSA officers at airports since the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown<\/a> began, according to exclusive data from the Transportation Safety Administration first obtained by ABC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over 3,250 officers called out Saturday, March 21, according to TSA data, accounting for 11.51% of the scheduled workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n Airport security lines are growing nationwide as TSA officers, who haven\u2019t received a paycheck for over three weeks, call out of work. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump posted<\/a> on his social media platform that he will deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports beginning Monday unless Democrats agree to a funding package to end the DHS shutdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrats are demanding reforms to ICE and Customs and Border Protection policies before they will vote to fund the DHS.<\/p>\n Air travelers endure long lines and two-hour wait times at the TSA security check point at Terminal E at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, on March 20, 2026, in Houston.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Michael Wyke\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week”<\/a> that ICE agents are trained and can assist with airport security. ICE has remained funded through appropriations from the Trump’s tax and spending bill passed last summer, while key DHS agencies like TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard are left unfunded.<\/p>\n Duffy said that ICE does have proper security training, but could also help by just managing lines. It is unclear how many ICE agents would be sent to airports or which airports they will be sent to.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as, you know, screening through the x-ray machine, not trained on that, we won’t do that,” White House Border Czar Tom Homan said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non significant role, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.”<\/p>\n There was a nearly four-hour wait Sunday during the 11 a.m. hour to pass through TSA checkpoints at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, according to the TSA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Saturday, the airports with the highest TSA personnel call-out rates were William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, with 47.4%; George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, with 42.4%; Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, with 34.1%, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, with 33.6%; and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, with 33.4%.\u00a0<\/p>\n The president of the union that represents TSA workers issued a statement Sunday blasting what he called the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cthreat\u201d to send ICE to airports.\u00a0<\/p>\n Air travelers endure long lines and two-hour wait times at the TSA security check point at Terminal E at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, on March 20, 2026, in Houston.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Michael Wyke\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Federal](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/87b99d54-5bfb-43b1-854b-c96ecdc31729\/airport-line-01-ap-jt-260321_1774111553915_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Federal")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"Hartsfield-Jackson](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/0f97785b-e508-415b-8d27-0534a5fe080c\/airport-line-ap-jt-260321_1774111448462_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Hartsfield-Jackson")
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