DA threatens to arrest ICE agents assisting TSA at Philadelphia International Airport

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

ICE agents began arriving at Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday to begin assisting short-staffed TSA workers with security lines, but the federal agents received a cold welcome from the city's district attorney who threatened to arrest them and "put you in handcuffs."

President Trump on Monday ordered ICE agents to begin assisting with security as the partial government shutdown dragged on and travelers were being forced to wait in hours-long security lines at airports around the country. Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia District Attorney, also showed up at the airport in his city on Tuesday, as ICE agents were arriving, and struck an immediate hostile tone while speaking in front of TV cameras. Krasner warned ICE agents he was looking to arrest them. 

"If you commit crimes in this jurisdiction, which is the city and county of Philadelphia, I will prosecute you. That is how it works," Krasner said. "The president cannot pardon you. I will put you in handcuffs. And if necessary, I will put you in a jail cell." Late last year, Krasner faced a public uproar after a repeat criminal suspect was released on minimal bail, and then was charged with a slew of crimes after a 23-year-old Miss America hopeful was found murdered and buried in a shallow grave. 

However, as 6ABC reported, not everyone at the airport was upset about the presence of ICE agents. 

"I'm glad they are here," Kirk Thelander, who lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia, told 6ABC. "I mean, if they're offsetting some of the workload for the TSA agents and allowing them to get people through faster, then that's great."

Thelander's sentiment is one that has been prevalent elsewhere in the country, where ICE agents have helped ease the long lines air travelers have faced in recent weeks. A video posted on X by Jennie Taer of The Daily Wire showed ICE agents passing out bottles of water to air travelers waiting in security lines at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, one of the few airports where long lines have persisted since ICE agents were deployed to airports two days ago.