So Where Did Trump Get The Amazing Idea Of ICE In Airports?

What could possibly go wrong?

Where did the "bright idea" of putting untrained ICE agents in airports actually come from?

ICE officers go to TSA checkpoints at Trump’s direction, while long wait times at airports persist

The LA Times

By Wyatte Grantham-Philips

March 23, 2026

• President Trump is deploying hundreds of ICE officers to major U.S. airports to support TSA checkpoints strained by a government shutdown.
• TSA and other Homeland Security workers have labored without pay since February, prompting many to call in sick or resign.
• Labor unions warn that ICE’s immigration enforcement role could distract from airport security and escalate tensions with travelers.

Armed federal immigration officers in tactical gear moved through terminals at some of the busiest U.S. airports Monday, standing near security lines and checkpoints after President Trump ordered their deployment during a partial government shutdown that has disrupted air travel nationwide.

The officers were not making arrests or screening passengers. The Trump administration vaguely said they would supplement Transportation Security Administration staffing at certain airports. But after a year of intensified immigration enforcement and protests in cities across the country, their appearance at airport checkpoints has unsettled some travelers and raised new questions about how far their presence might extend.

The first thought that popped into my head was: "Why do they need tactical gear in an airport?" Talk about escalation!

So whose idea was it? Well it all seems to funnel back to a right-wing radio talk show!

Opinion | Was a conservative radio caller behind the idea to send ICE agents into airports?

A suggestion from ‘Linda from Arizona’ on The Clay and Buck Show made its way to Fox News and, soon after, into White House policy

Poynter

By: Tom Jones

March 24, 2026

On Monday, ICE agents were deployed to 14 airports throughout the country to, in theory, help ease the long lines because of a shortage of Transportation Security Administration agents. Many TSA agents have quit during this latest partial government shutdown, and thousands called out of work because they are not being paid.

[...]

So, where did President Donald Trump get the idea to send ICE into airports to help the TSA? It might have been …

Linda from Arizona.

Several media observers — including Semafor’s Ben Smith and CNN’s Brian Stelter — noted that a woman named Linda called into Clay Travis’ conservative radio show last Friday and made the suggestion to deploy ICE to airports.

Linda told “The Clay and Buck Show,” “I think I have a solution to the TSA problem. … We need to bring in ICE agents.” Travis replied, “Linda, I have to say that’s kind of a brilliant idea.”

So here’s where the story gets a little more suspect. That night, Travis appeared on Trump’s favorite network — Fox News — and passed along the idea. Less than 24 hours later, Trump announced the plan to send in ICE agents.

Now, it’s entirely possible that more folks than just Linda from Arizona had this idea, and it’s possible that some of those people work in the White House.

So it was a radio talk show caller that put armed tactical gear ICE agents in airports! And other right-wing pundits jumped on the bandwagon!

The Democratic Docket wrote,

Steve Bannon suggested that President Donald Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major U.S. airports as part of a “test run” for using them to meddle in upcoming elections.

“We can use this as a test run, as a test case, to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterms,” Bannon, a close Trump ally, said on his War Room podcast Monday.

Last month, Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist during the opening months of Trump’s first term and who remains an influential figure in the current administration, urged the president to send immigration officers to voting sites during this year’s midterms.

He baselessly claimed that the tactic would prevent Democrats from “stealing” elections. In reality, the move is clearly meant to intimidate voters and poll workers and artificially influence election outcomes. 

The White House and leaders of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, have never definitively ruled out the tactic, even though federal law expressly bars the stationing of law enforcement officers or members of the military at polling places.

Are you scared yet? Because it looks like the groundwork is being laid to rig the elections.

But here is the "minor" fact that all of these pundits are ignoring: The Law.

18 U.S. Code § 592 - Troops at polls

Cornell Law School

Whoever, being an officer of the Army or Navy, or other person in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States, orders, brings, keeps, or has under his authority or control any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; and be disqualified from holding any office of honor, profit, or trust under the United States.

Hey Trump... 5 years! You still want to bring ICE to the polls?