Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Donald Trump Deploying ICE Agents To Airports Instead Of Allowing Democrats To Pass TSA Funding

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor on Donald Trump's chaos spreading to airports as he deploys ICE agents to do a job they are not trained for, instead of allowing TSA to be funded through any of the seven proposals Senate Democrats have offered in recent days. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

This morning, Tom Homan from the Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents have arrived at 14 airports-New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburg, elsewhere.

Everywhere ICE goes, trouble follows, we've seen that, and it is highly likely that airports will be no exception. No one trusts that ICE is going to make things better. Patrolling airports is not in ICE's job description. It's certainly not what they are trained to do.

And let's be clear: ICE agents performing the work of TSA officers is not going to make our airports any safer. It is going to make them less safe because ICE agents aren't trained in airport security. These agents aren't familiar with the layout of the airports they're walking into. They don't know the protocols or procedures in the same way TSA workers do.

It's a simple solution, Donald Trump-pay the TSA workers so you don't have to bring ICE agents in there.

ICE agents are going to miss things, and that's assuming they just focus on security. What if they do what they've done in other cities and start harassing travelers, asking to check papers, check their citizenship, detain them without due process, even if they are American citizens-just as we've seen them do for months now? And I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump and Stephen Miller would encourage them to do just that at the airport.

And in any case, ICE's mere presence is going to inflame the situation at these airports where tensions are already sky high.

Every time a traveler walks to their gate, or stands in line at security, and sees an ICE agent lurking about, they are going to be reminded of Donald Trump's chaos. They're going to be reminded of Minneapolis. And they're going to think "the chaos is now coming to my city too."

So Donald Trump: the more you keep ICE agents at our airports, the more you will be reminding people of how much chaos and fear ICE has already caused. It is a terrible idea that could backfire on the country and on Donald Trump.

Instead of trying to replace TSA workers with ICE agents, Donald Trump should pay TSA workers and get Republicans to come to a deal before the chaos gets worse.

Let me repeat that because it's so simple: instead of trying to replace TSA workers with ICE agents, Donald Trump should simply pay TSA workers and get Republicans to come to a deal before the chaos gets even worse.

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