Travelers at 14 airports today may notice Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE), who were sent there to help ‘manage crowds,’ as TSA workers call in sick or quit after not receiving their paychecks during the government shutdown.
Since ICE agents aren’t qualified as TSA screeners due to a lack of training, they can reportedly help with crowd control and ‘line management’, as well as serving as a ‘visible deterrent to potential security threats.
One TSA worker, Cameron Cochems, told CNN Monday that some of his colleagues feel ICE’s presence is doing more harm than good.
“At the end of the day all our officers care about is getting paid,” he said. “Having ICE agents and officers at our airports, they’re going to be sitting at exit(s), they’re going to be doing things that they can’t be trained to do.”
