Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents could remain stationed at U.S. airports even after Transportation Security Administration employees resume receiving paychecks, White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday. Homan told CNN that the decision depends on how many T.S.A. officers return to work and whether airports feel operations have fully normalized. ICE agents were deployed to airports during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown when thousands of T.S.A. employees called in sick or quit.

More than 500 T.S.A. employees have quit since the shutdown began, with over 12 percent of the workforce calling in sick on some days. Wait times stretched for hours at major airports, prompting the Trump administration to send ICE agents to conduct identification checks and 'plug security holes.' Homan claimed wait times have decreased since ICE arrived, though the exact role of these agents remains unclear. A union representing T.S.A. officers said ICE agents are 'just getting in the way' rather than assisting with core security functions.

T.S.A. employees are set to receive paychecks as early as Monday after President Trump signed an executive order to pay them during the funding impasse. However, operational challenges are unlikely to immediately resolve. The standoff in Congress over Homeland Security funding deepened Friday when House Republicans rejected a bipartisan deal, pushing instead for their own plan that includes funding for ICE and Border Patrol.