ICE agents have been assigned to Sky Harbor Airport as the partial government shutdown drags on. On Tuesday, KJZZ visited Terminal 4, where half of the checkpoints in Terminal 4 have been closed since Friday due to TSA staffing shortages.
No ICE agents were immediately visible when foot traffic was light.
Ron Garnica came early from Tucson for his flight to Miami and then on to Lima, Peru. He said it’s nice that ICE is helping, but it could have come from somewhere else.
“Congress, the president could easily alleviate the TSA. But he loves chaos,” Garnica said.
Neither he nor Maria Wyckmans said they were feeling anxiety about long security lines ahead.
“My daughter had a friend who flew out yesterday and said it was like 15 minutes,” Wyckmans said.
Wyckmans was heading for Tennessee to help out her son, who is a member of the military and on assignment. She was happy to see ICE at Sky Harbor.
“I think they’re doing a great job and they’re there to support and help us. So bring them in,” Wyckmans said.
Donations for TSA workers going unpaid during the partial shutdown are being accepted in Terminal 4.
Michael Ferguson was on his way to El Paso. He said the presence of ICE likely gives some people anxiety.
“I guess if they’re here to help get people through, that’s a good use of the time then. Just to keep travelers going to where they need to be. Especially, for example, me. I want to be there for my mom to be there at 5 in the morning for her surgery. So I need to get there today,” Ferguson said.
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The Phoenix police chief has put a sergeant on paid leave while an internal investigation of the sergeant’s behavior at an ICE protest in the East Valley is conducted. -
Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to abandon its investigation into the state’s 2020 presidential election. -
Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva say they were shocked by the conditions inside the ICE holding facility at Mesa Gateway Airport on Thursday evening. -
As the New York Times reports, more than 100 of the roughly 750 immigration judges have been dismissed. About 140 permanent and temporary judges have been appointed in the wake of those firings — including former DHS prosecutors.
