Will President Trump send ICE agents to Boston's Logan Airport?

“We have not heard anything official from TSA leadership that ICE would be coming to any airport in New England."

A traveler shows her identification to a TSA officer at a security checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport in Boston on May 7, 2025. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe)

While Logan Airport has so far avoided the delays plaguing other major hubs, Boston’s airport may see federal immigration agents step into a security role at the order of President Donald Trump.

As the partial government shutdown continues into its second month, more than 400 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit after working without pay since mid-February, the Department of Homeland Security said. Funding for DHS, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is at the center of the shutdown.

Starting Monday, Trump said he’s planning to order ICE agents to airports, where they would arrest “all Illegal Immigrants,” unless Democrats fund DHS.

Mike Gayzagian, the president of AFGE Local 2617,  the New England branch of the TSA officers’ union, said it’s currently unclear if ICE will be headed to Logan or any other airport in New England. 

“We have not heard anything official from TSA leadership that ICE would be coming to any airport in New England. However, we are making inquiries,” Gayzagian said in a statement. “The New England region has not experienced the same problems as other parts of the country and so we do not see such a move as something that’s necessary at this time. However, if the staffing situation deteriorates, the need for such a move may have to be reevaluated.”

At Logan Airport, the majority of TSA agents have stayed at work, Boston.com previously reported, and the airport has overall avoided long security lines.

Massport confirmed Sunday that Logan has “not seen any impacts to the checkpoints due to the ongoing shutdown” and said it had no information on ICE agents going to Logan.

When asked if ICE agents will be at Logan Airport, a spokesperson for DHS did not address Boston or New England directly, instead blaming the “Democrat shutdown” and addressing the long lines at airports nationwide.

Trump will “deploy hundreds of ICE officers, that are currently funded by Congress, to airports being adversely impacted,” according to Lauren Bis, DHS’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Homeland. 

“Because of the Democrat shutdown, President Trump is using every tool available to help American travelers who are facing hourslong lines at airports across the country — especially during this spring break and holiday season that is very important for many American families,” Bis said. “This will help bolster TSA efforts to keep our skies safe and minimize air travel disruptions.”

AFGE National President Everett Kelley slammed the move in a statement, saying the agents “deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”

In New England, Gayzagian said as the union makes inquiries into the move to deploy ICE agents, public safety is important if staffing levels suffer.

“It’s important to keep the public safety situation under control,” Gayzagian said. “Any police presence at the airport acts as a deterrent to those who have bad intentions.”