President Donald Trump said he’s ready to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports as soon as Monday if congressional Democrats don’t agree to a plan for funding parts of the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump said Saturday in a social media post that the ICE agents would not only assist the Transportation Security Administration in handling normal airport security but added he would direct them to arrest anyone suspected of immigrating illegally to the U.S.

“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia,” he said.

In a later post, he updated his plan to say that he looked “forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!”

The spending impasse has left TSA workers without pay for five weeks, prompting some to call in sick and leading to lengthy delays at major U.S. airports during the busy spring break season. Although Democrats have repeatedly sought to fund TSA alone, those efforts have been blocked by Republicans.

Asked about Trump’s warning, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the president had an easy solution.

“All he’s got to do is tell his folks to vote yes on our bill today which funds TSA right away,” Schumer said at the Capitol.

Democrats objected to the idea of ICE agents in airports.

“I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they’ve been breaking down doors at homes, more of the same,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. “We could solve these issues in an evening if Trump would simply say yes or get out of the way. Or just go radio silent, rather than throwing thunderbolt threats.”

Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said “people on both sides of the aisle think this is outrageous,” though no Republican immediately spoke out against it.

Trump’s post singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and one of the president’s frequent targets.

If Trump follows through with the plan, it would mean a new, high-profile role for ICE, even as the administration has sought to downplay immigration arrests after the agency’s turbulent and controversial enforcement actions in Minnesota that led to the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens. Trump last month ordered a pullback from the Minnesota operation.

Earlier this month, Trump removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to fill the job — a shift seen as meant to help tame tensions.

ICE’s heavy-handed operations are at the heart of a spending dispute that has led to the DHS shutdown. Democrats have demanded that any spending for the agency come with an overhaul of immigration enforcement procedures. Negotiations between Republicans and Democrats were occurring over the weekend.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Saturday described having “productive” discussions on Homeland Security spending the night before.

“The offer was made and legislative language was submitted by the administration to open up the Department of Homeland Security with a lot of reforms that had been requested and asked for by Democrats, and at some point, the Democrats are going to have to take yes for an answer,” Thune told reporters in Washington.

While Congress negotiates, Elon Musk said in a post on X that he would pay the salaries of TSA personnel during the shutdown.

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(With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres.)

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