Philadelphia officials, labor leaders rally against ICE presence at Philadelphia International Airport

Phillies fans are piling into the city for baseball’s Opening Day, but Philadelphia officials and labor and faith leaders want federal immigration agents ruled “out” and sent home. 

Outside Philadelphia City Hall Thursday morning, City Councilmembers and community leaders held a rally in support of Transportation Security Administration agents working at the airport amid a partial government shutdown – and calling out the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around airport security. 

“(TSA agents) have missed three paychecks. It’s unconscionable,” Phil Glover, District 3 national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said Thursday. “They’re dedicated to the safety of America, and we need to acknowledge that they sent ICE out there, who are getting paid.” 

The Trump administration deployed ICE agents to airports around the country this week in what it said was an effort to ease the long airport security lines caused by the government shutdown and shortage of TSA employees. 

Labor leaders lambasted the administration’s moves, arguing not only that ICE agents aren’t trained airport screeners who can help improve security, but also that the presence of ICE agents – who are paid while TSA agents work unpaid – creates a hostile environment for travelers and workers alike. 

Glover said AFGE members claimed ICE agents aren’t assisting in security operations and “stand behind checkpoints or out in front of the lines – and they aren’t helping to even move the lines.” 

“It’s all political theater. Our members are highly upset that they’ve been going for 40 days now” without pay, Glover added. “Hopefully, the public around Philadelphia, and those who use the airport, understand the stress that these people are under and they don’t like what’s going on.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner held a press conference at the airport Tuesday, where his comments telling ICE to “play nice” made national headlines. Krasner said he will prosecute ICE agents who commit crimes within his jurisdiction, prompting pushback from the federal administration and Department of Homeland Security. 

“What Krasner is trying to do is unlawful, and he knows it. Federal officials acting in the course of their duties are immune from liability under state law,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Attacks and demonization of ICE law enforcement are wrong. Because of smears like this, our ICE officers are now facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists.”

Local leaders had a different take. 

“We do not need to have ICE working at the Philadelphia International Airport creating an atmosphere of fear, creating an atmosphere of confusion, creating an atmosphere of intimidation,” Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said at the rally. “It’s imperative that our leaders and Congress get back to the table to get a deal done because you have TSA workers working day in, day out without pay, (and) day in, day out without support.”

Keturah Johnson, international vice president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said Thursday that flight attendants and airport workers must be seen as safety officials. 

“Flight attendants’ entire careers are about safety,” Johnson said. “I know flight attendants ask folks every single day if they are willing and able to assist in an emergency … Starting today and moving forward, I need you, Philadelphia and the labor movement, to be willing and able to assist each other in this emergency.”

Nene Diallo, an airport food service chef and member of the UNITE HERE union, shared an emotional story about the devastating impacts the federal administration’s policies have had on her family – including her husband’s deportation. 

“Whether you are a citizen or a lawful permanent resident, the presence of ICE at the airport makes airport workers and passengers less safe … people are scared to even go to work,” Diallo said at the rally, adding that she’s been working full-time at the airport to provide for her family. “Trump has broken everything.”

As of this week, roughly half of the PHL airport’s TSA checkpoints remain open, and about 12% of TSA officers have not shown up for work. 

City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, a Working Families Party member, echoed sentiments from the labor leaders, saying that “ICE agents aren’t qualified to do their own jobs, let alone the jobs of the hardworking TSA agents who have been going without pay at our airport.”

“Sending militarized troops into our airport is not a solution. We have seen in cities across the country, and right here in Philadelphia, it’s a recipe for violence, chaos and fear,” Brooks said. “It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Earlier this year, Brooks and fellow at-large Councilmember Rue Landau introduced an “ICE OUT” legislative package aimed at restricting immigration activity in the city. The measures seek to prohibit ICE agents from using face masks or unmarked vehicles, restrict the agency’s access to city data, and codify existing practices that restrict collaboration between city law enforcement and ICE agents. 

ICE agents are reportedly at numerous major airports across the country, including in Pittsburgh, Newark, New York City and Chicago.