ICE agents dispersed to airports across country amid TSA staffing shortages

This episode of San Diego News Now covers multiple local developments, beginning with uncertainty over whether ICE agents will be deployed to San Diego International Airport amid TSA staffing shortages caused by the ongoing federal government shutdown. Travelers faced long security lines, prompting airport officials to recommend arriving two and a half hours early. The situation has sparked debate over federal funding, with Democrats refusing to fund DHS without immigration policy changes, while ICE agents remain paid due to prior appropriations. The segment also explores energy policy, highlighting Congressman Mike Levin’s Energy Bills Relief Act, which aims to reinstate tax credits for clean energy, combat price gouging, and support low-income families—though its passage is unlikely in the Republican-controlled House. In East County, a proposed 600-acre solar project called Starlight Solar has ignited community concern over environmental and cultural impacts, with residents and tribal leaders warning of 'green colonialism' and the erasure of sacred landscapes. Despite developer promises to preserve over 400 acres and protect cultural sites, residents demand stronger safeguards and a $7 million community benefit fund, echoing past tensions from a similar project in Hakumba. The episode concludes with a plug for the Cinema Junkie podcast.