Having ICE perform TSA duties is reminiscent of “checkpoint systems once used in the Soviet Union and East Germany.”
WASHINGTON (March 23, 2026) — WhistleblowerAid.org client and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyer and training instructor Ryan Schwank, who recently testified in Congress about drastic cuts to ICE’s training curriculum, issued the following statement about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plan to deploy ICE agents to airports alongside TSA agents:
“Deploying ICE agents to airports to support the TSA will put experienced and new officers into roles that are outside their training and scope of duties. Even if they were only providing crowd control and non-technical services, it will all be outside their experience. But the President has specifically stated ICE agents will be performing identity checks and making arrests at the airport. Not only does this place these agents into unfamiliar roles, it forces the public to submit to a criminal checkpoint system if they wish to exercise their freedom of travel. At best, this forces Americans to accept the same kind of checkpoint systems once used in the Soviet Union and East Germany. At worst, it could result in a violent confrontation between a tired traveler and an inexperienced agent.”
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