This week, President Donald Trump deployed ICE officers to more than a dozen airports across the U.S. amidst staffing shortages from the partial government shutdown that’s afflicting the Department of Homeland Security, which houses TSA. At this point, it really should come as no surprise that Trump’s decision was not about traveler’s safety and well-being, but actually to add an extra layer of intimidation that’s perfectly in line with his mass deportation agenda.
In the past couple of days, I’ve seen several videos of ICE agents standing around looking at their phones, hiding their faces from cameras or breathing down the necks of TSA agents as they continue to do their jobs without pay. But while watching this footage on social media, there’s actually a very specific and unsettling thought that has been running through my mind: A lot of these ICE officers appear to be people of color.
Queer activist Matt Bernstein posted a now viral video of ICE officers at JFK Airport, most of them Black and brown men. On X, a post of a Black ICE officer also went viral: “Stud ICE Agent is not what we mean when we say representation matters…” the post reads. On Sunday, just before ICE was deployed at several airports, a woman was arrested at SFO International Airport in San Francisco, and one of the main ICE officers detaining her appears to be an Asian man.
