Lauren Boebert Lauds Deployment of ICE Agents to Airports — But Her Bold Claim Quickly Falls Apart

Representative Lauren Boebert is facing heavy scrutiny after sharing a video that praised President Donald Trump for deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to airports in an effort to assist the understaffed and unpaid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers. The government reportedly sent ICE agents to 14 airports across the country.

Amid a partial government shutdown, ICE officers were sent to the busiest airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. However, after Boebert posted on social media regarding the same, her claim quickly garnered attention for being inaccurate.

On Monday, March 23, it was revealed that U.S. authorities have begun sending officers from ICE to several airports. The move was reportedly meant to help the TSA workers struggling with staff shortages amid the partial government shutdown.

Meanwhile, Boebert was quick to react to the news. She posted a short video on her X account praising the move, while claiming how this has already reduced wait times at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport.

“ICE agents show up at airports. While the rest of our country has three plus hour waits – thanks Democrats – in Minneapolis Airport’s TSA, wait time right now is less than five minutes,” Boebert said.

Claiming that she had “called it”, Boebert asserted, “you can’t make this stuff up!!” However, there appeared to be a major problem with her claim. Reports soon showed that no ICE officers had actually been sent to Minneapolis or anywhere else in Minnesota.

Fox 9 Minneapolis confirmed that the airport was not part of the deployment plan. In fact, officials said the airport was already running smoothly. Claiming that they were “not aware of any planned changes” involving ICE at the airport, officials asserted that they have always maintained lines that were as short as five minutes.

Meanwhile, despite the confusion, Boebert kept the video pinned to the top of her X account. In addition to her unverified claims, images soon appeared on social media from different airports where ICE officers were seen idly standing around in baggage-claim areas.

Reflecting on this situation, border czar Tom Homan explained that since ICE agents are not trained to operate TSA equipment like X-ray machines, they are only expected to provide general support.

Following Homan’s claims, although Boebert appeared on The Matt Gaetz Show on Monday, March 23, she refrained from addressing the airport situation. Instead, she spoke at length about Trump’s foreign policy, including a possible five-day pause in actions involving Iran.

“President Trump is once again showing that he rides shotgun to no one. And world leaders would be wise to listen carefully to what he says, their life just may depend on it,” Boebert said. She further praised Trump’s leadership but also raised concerns about a proposed $200 billion spending bill. Boebert stated, “I’m not going to blindly support a bill without knowing what’s even in it.”