TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill slammed Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) for questioning the effectiveness of deploying ICE agents to airports amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, pushing back on his argument that ICE is incapable of assisting beyond its core function. Thanedar went further, arguing the agency can’t even properly enforce immigration laws and casting doubt on its ability to handle more basic responsibilities.
🚨 HOLY CRAP. Indian-born Rep. Shri Thanedar gets SLAPPED DOWN by TSA Administrator after he claimed ICE agents are not qualified to serve in the airports
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 25, 2026
DEPORT HIM ALREADY!
THANEDAR: "Telling TSOs that untrained ICE agents can do a better job than they can?!"
MCNEILL: "The… pic.twitter.com/lZbznEgs2G
After Rep. Thanedar claimed the Trump administration was effectively “telling TSO’s (Transportation Security Officers) that untrained ICE agents can do a better job than they can,” the TSA administrator pointed to the rapid relief major airports have experienced since ICE was deployed to assist.
"I'm extremely thankful to the President for recognizing the crisis that we are in and leveraging assets across the Department of Homeland Security to assist our agency in this very difficult time," McNeill said. "And the ICE agents that have shown up are there in support of the TSA mission, and we've been spending time training them the last few days, and we're seeing relief, signs of early relief at the airports where we're seeing long lines, and this is how we function as a department. We collaborate across the component agencies, and this just underscores the importance of funding the entirety of the DHS functions.
"Well, the ICE agents haven't been trained to do their ICE work, and now I don't know what kind of training you're giving them in this short time, but I see them all sitting down looking at their phones or chit-chatting, but it looks like they have no role to play," Thanedar replied.
"I've been talking to my field leadership, the ICE agents that are there are non-specialized screening functions," McNeill said. "It's been incredibly helpful to alleviate the burden on our workforce, and we're getting positive feedback from passengers and our field leadership alike."
Democrats have still overlooked the simplest solution to removing ICE agents from airports: fully funding the Department of Homeland Security. Instead, the partial shutdown has now stretched to 40 days with no end in sight.