Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were not at John Glenn Columbus International Airport on March 23, the first day President Trump ordered them to major airports around the country to assist TSA agents during the partial government shutdown, airport spokesperson Breann González Almos told The Dispatch.
Meanwhile, TSA lines at John Glenn Columbus are operating as usual, airport spokesperson, Almos said.
Trump first announced he would be sending ICE to assist TSA workers on March 21. Trump later told reporters he would deploy National Guard troops if the ICE agents aren’t enough to reduce security lines at the country’s airports.
ICE agents are being sent to 14 airports around the country, Reuters reported. CNN reported a list of 13 airports the agents are being sent to, including Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. John Glenn Columbus International Airport was not on the list.
The ICE operation comes as the partial government shutdown enters its sixth week. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Feb. 13 when Congressional lawmakers could not reach an agreement to fund the agency. Democrats in Congress want ICE reforms like a ban on mask-wearing and body cameras before funding the agency, while Republicans say some of the Democrats’ demands are nonstarters.
TSA lines at major airports around the country have become hours-long as TSA workers stop showing up to work without pay. The TSA line at New Orleans airport over the weekend stretched into the parking garage outside, NBC News reported. Around 10% of TSA workers across the country did not show up to work on March 15, compared to a normal no-show rate outside of a shutdown of under 2%, Reuters reported.
Are TSA lines at John Glenn Columbus affected?
The security lines at John Glenn Columbus have been mostly normal since the partial shutdown started, a fact airport spokesperson Kati Hartwig previously attributed to the dedicated TSA staff that keeps showing up even without pay.
“We are so incredibly thankful to them for continuing to show up every day and really putting the safety of our passengers first and foremost,” she previously told The Dispatch.
The airport has set up a gift card box at the airport for people to donate cards to TSA workers. The cards are distributed by management.
How can you check security wait times for John Glenn Columbus?
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority publishes estimated security wait times for John Glenn Columbus on the security page of its website.
The average TSA wait time at John Glenn Columbus the morning of March 23 was around 39 minutes, according to the site.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ICE is at airports, but not Columbus. What’s happening at John Glenn
Reporting by Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
