1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand that you oppose the deployment of ICE agents to U.S. airports and instead take immediate action to fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard. Sending ICE agents into airports is not a solution. It is a very dangerous and misguided substitution. ICE officers are not trained to perform TSA screening functions, and their presence does nothing to resolve the actual problem, which is a shortage of properly trained, paid TSA personnel. Replacing aviation security professionals with immigration enforcement agents undermines both safety and public confidence. And we don’t have answers to basic concerns at our airports: - Will ICE remove their masks and have clear identification? - Will ICE be permitted to be armed with guns and other weapons? - Will ICE follow our laws and the Constitution? This situation is not unavoidable. It is the direct result of political choices. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted down measures that would fund large portions of the federal government, including essential public safety and disaster response agencies, while prioritizing funding disputes tied to DHS. This approach has left TSA officers unpaid, strained FEMA’s readiness, and created entirely preventable risks for the public. There is a more urgent need to fund TSA and FEMA immediately. TSA ensures the safety and security of millions of travelers every day, and FEMA is essential for responding to disasters that are happening right now, including severe flooding in Hawaii and wildfires in Nebraska. These are core, non-negotiable government functions. At the same time, DHS continues to have areas of funding and operational capacity that make it inappropriate to prioritize ICE-related measures over immediate aviation security and disaster response needs. Immigration enforcement policy, reform and funding should be addressed separately, not used to delay or derail critical funding for agencies that protect lives on a daily basis. Introducing ICE agents into airports also creates unnecessary risk. Airports rely on clarity, consistency, and public trust. The presence of armed immigration enforcement agents in this environment introduces confusion, fear, and the potential for escalation. It raises serious unanswered questions about identification, use of force, and how travelers will be treated. This is not how you strengthen security. It is how you undermine it. Lastly, this could have serious economic repercussions for our airlines and beyond. The solution is clear. Pass clean, immediate funding for TSA, FEMA, and other essential agencies. Stop using unrelated policy disputes to hold public safety hostage. Ensure that trained professionals are in place, paid, and able to do their jobs. Anything less is a failure to meet the government’s most basic responsibility to protect its people. I urge you to act now. We do NOT need chaos and domestic terror at our airports!