ICE Agents Not Expected To Deploy To Nantucket Memorial Airport

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were deployed to 14 major U.S. airports by President Donald Trump on Monday to help quell the impacts of the partial government shutdown on the nation's air transportation hubs. Nantucket Memorial Airport, however, is not expected to be among the facilities where ICE agents are being sent.

With the shutdown entering its sixth week, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel are working without pay, causing significant disruptions at airports including staffing shortages and long wait times. The ICE agents have been deployed to assist with crowd control and to help manage long security lines.

Nantucket Airport Manager Warren Smith told the Current on Monday that he has not received any word that ICE agents are being sent to the island. He praised the Nantucket Memorial Airport's federal TSA workers, who continue to work despite their paychecks being on hold.

“I have been in correspondence with our TSA leadership here at ACK and there hasn't been any impact to operations or flights at ACK to date,” Smith said. “The TSA staff are holding up very well at this time. In relation to ICE agents assisting here at ACK, there are no agents here nor has there been any communication about having ICE coming to ACK to assist. I believe the larger airports where the impacts are being seen and felt is where the ICE agents would be mobilized to assist.”

Smith added that, fortunately for Nantucket Memorial Airport, it is not only small, but seasonal.

“We are still in that timeframe where there is minimal impact, if any,” Smith said.

Nantucket Airport's busy season typically begins in the middle of May, when large commercial airlines such as JetBlue and Delta resume service, followed by American Airlines and United Airlines in June. Most of these airlines end their seasonal service following Labor Day Weekend, while JetBlue ends its service following the second weekend of October.