With record-long security lines creating travel chaos at airports across the country, President Trump says ICE agents will be called in to assist the TSA due to the shortage caused by the partial government shutdown.
Air travelers Grant and Sarah Pittman, who were standing outside the airport in a security line, said, “We got here five hours early. Fingers crossed we make it.”
A record 3,250 agents, more than 11 and a half percent of the TSA workforce, called out nationwide over the weekend. And at some of the nation’s busiest airports, such as Atlanta and JFK, callout rates were between about 30 and 40 percent.
TSA Officer Sharre Quick said, “It’s very stressful and frustrating, knowing that I’m still expected to work without pay. I’ve had to stretch every dollar. I have to rely on help from my family.”
Under the White House plan, ICE agents will be deployed at 14 airports, where they’re expected to help with crowd control and manage security lines.
Border Czar Tom Homan told CNN, “There are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant role, such as guarding an exit, so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker.”
With the partial government shutdown now past 40 days, Republicans and Democrats failed again over the weekend to agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
Democrats want to fund TSA separately from the rest of DHS, and are blasting the idea of having ICE agents in airports.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told CNN, “The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them.”
While there are reports of progress in Congress to find a way to fund Homeland Security, they only have a week before the Senate begins its spring recess.
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