Trump 'sending ICE agents to airports' amid DHS shutdown

The US President insisted on Saturday that ICE agents would be deployed to airports to tackle the shortage of TSA agents, after many stepped down amid a funding standoff between Senate Republicans and Democrats.

The issue relates to Trump's attempt to push through a bill tied to funding for the Department of Homeland Security - which includes ICE funding.

It's a bill that would provide payments for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at airports.

Writing on social media, Trump insisted the role of ICE at US airports would include “the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country.”

The TSA has been partially shut down since mid-February over the standoff between Republicans and Democrats.

"If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before," he continued, taking to his social media platform Truth Social.

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"If the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country, ICE will do the job far better than ever done before!" he wrote on Truth social.

He continued in a later post: "I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, 'GET READY'."

His comments come as Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to pass a stand-alone bill to fund TSA in a 41-49 vote on Saturday.

It comes a day after Senate Democrats voted down Republicans’ efforts to pass a bill to fully fund DHS.