I arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport nearly five hours before my domestic flight, only to find that ICE agents were not managing crowds as promised.

The effects of the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown are most evident here. The shutdown began on February 14th after Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill for DHS. Despite this, ICE and Customs and Border Protection continue operations thanks to funding from the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

I observed ICE agents at various terminals. Four ERO agents stood in a tight circle outside Delta Sky Priority check-in area, while six HSI agents were chatting near the entrance of Terminal 7. They weren't violently arresting anyone but also weren't helping manage the crowds as they had been deployed to do.

At Terminal 8, I saw four officers standing against a wall near the check-in area. Two broke off and joined another pair near bag drop. As I took the escalator down to the AirTrain, I saw a man approach them, but nothing happened. The stress at airports is manifesting in silly ways now; one woman even pulled out a violin to entertain her fellow passengers.

The presence of armed federal agents who are notorious for carrying out violent arrests prowling through airports makes people uneasy. It made me uneasy to see them at JFK the day they were deployed, despite their ostensible mission to alleviate wait times.