WASHINGTON, D.C. — Border czar Tom Homan said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would remain at airports until Transportation Security Administration officers could resume normal operations. President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration officers during the partial government shutdown.

Homan said that Transportation Security Administration officers would hopefully be paid by Monday or Tuesday. "So if less TSA agents come back, that means we'll keep more ICE agents there," he said.

He said that ICE agents were helping with identification checks and protecting exit lanes at airports. He said that ICE agents were filling staffing gaps at airports. "We'll see," Homan said regarding the timeline for TSA officers returning to normal staffing levels.

The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security became the longest in U.S. history on Sunday. Approximately 500 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit since the start of the partial government shutdown, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers called out of work during the partial government shutdown due to lack of pay.

Transportation Security Administration staffing shortages have led to long wait times at security checkpoints at some U.S. airports, with some airports experiencing lines lasting several hours. A top Transportation Security Administration official testified before Congress that training transportation security officers takes approximately four to six months.

House Republicans passed a short-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill on Friday, but it lacks sufficient support in the Senate to become law. House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a Senate-passed bill that would have funded all Department of Homeland Security operations except immigration enforcement and deportation.