Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents helping at US airports should be treated as a “test run” for a wider role in the 2026 election, Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and prominent MAGA figure, has said.
ICE agents have begun assisting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at airports across the US, after a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) led to staff shortages and long security lines at checkpoints.
Speaking on his War Room podcast on Monday, Bannon told conservative lawyer Mike Davis that the airport deployment could be used “as a test run, as a test case to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm elections.”
Davis replied that ICE agents should be “at the polling places,” noting that it is a federal crime for illegal immigrants to vote in federal elections. “If you’re an American citizen, you should be happy that ICE is there, because you’re not going to have illegal aliens canceling out your vote,” he said.
Bannon described the airport ICE deployment as “another 5D chess move from President Trump,” noting that the agents are “trained to – wait for it – check IDs.”
On Monday, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations units reportedly began supporting TSA staff at a number of airports. White House border czar Tom Homan, who is overseeing the operation, said immigration officers will not screen passengers but will handle entry and exit lanes to free up TSA staff.
TSA and ICE are both part of DHS, but immigration enforcement has been shielded from the funding gap by Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’, a 2025 spending package that allocated about $75 billion to ICE through 2029. More than 400 TSA agents have reportedly quit since the partial shutdown started.
Democrats in Congress have focused on ICE after its agents fatally shot two US citizens in Minnesota in January, who were allegedly attempting to obstruct a massive immigration crackdown in the state. Democrats have for months demanded that new checks on ICE agents be introduced, such as a requirement to wear identification, body cameras, and a ban on facemasks.
Trump has said ICE will assist TSA “for as long as it takes” and that he would consider deploying the National Guard if needed.