KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were deployed at 13 airports across the United States on Monday, though Kansas City International Airport did not appear to be one of them.
Over the weekend, federal officials announced the agents would be seen at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports. The deployment comes as funding for TSA agents with the Department of Homeland Security remains stuck in political gridlock.
KCI has a unique setup for passenger security, using a privatized force instead of TSA agents. That’s helped keep security lines shorter at KCI than at many other airports that use TSA agents.
A KC Aviation Department spokesperson said the airport has “not been told to expect ICE agents being sent here to assist.”
While ICE agents and long security lines aren’t expected at KCI, passengers traveling to other airports may see ICE agents and long lines.
Three of the top five airport destinations from Kansas City are included in the list of airports slated to receive ICE agents.
CNN reported Monday that Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago-O’Hare International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are set to receive ICE agents.
A full list of airports with ICE agents, according to CNN:
- Chicago-O’Hare International Airport
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York)
- LaGuardia Airport (New York)
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Pittsburgh International Airport
- Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, Florida)
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