The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday that the partial government shutdown has caused widespread disruption at airports in the United States, with nearly 500 airport security officers leaving their jobs.
All this comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has been unable to reach an agreement with the US Congress to fund the department.
As a result, approximately 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have been forced to work without pay since mid-February.
There are hours-long lines at security checkpoints at major US airports, due to which airline passengers are suffering the consequences.
TSA is particularly stressed due to the travel surge associated with school spring break, which is experiencing approximately 5% more travel volume than last year. The agency has warned that if the situation continues like this, it may be forced to close smaller airports.
Trump deployed hundreds of Immigration and Customs (ICE) agents to multiple airports in response to the situation.
Although these agents are unable to fulfill TSA’s workload because they lack training, some ICE agents are reportedly using TSA equipment to perform duties such as checking IDs, securing entry and exits, assisting with logistics, and performing crowd control.
No progress in talks
The DHS partial shutdown came after Trump cut a deal with Democrats to end the federal shutdown last fall.
Lawmakers agreed to fund the federal government, except for DHS. The department was placed on temporary funding, but that has expired.
Democrats are demanding changes to the guardrails and ICE to return full funding to DHS.
The agency has faced heavy criticism in the wake of nationwide outrage over immigration raids and the deaths of two US citizens at the hands of federal agents in Minnesota.
“We’ve been talking about ICE reform since day one,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Meanwhile, Republicans say Democrats are putting the country at risk. His latest bill proposes to defund most of DHS except for ICE’s enforcement and removals functions and add some new restrictions on immigration officers, including the use of body cameras.
But the proposal does not include other policies that Democrats have sought, such as requirements that federal agents wear identification cards and avoid conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive locations.
Why are ICE agents paid when TSA doesn’t have money for airport security?
Although DHS is defunded, ICE and other law enforcement personnel within DHS are still paid.
The tax cut and spending bill pushed by Trump last year gave DHS billions of additional dollars, including $75 billion for ICE operations.
This plan ensures that Trump’s immigration and deportation agenda can continue to operate even after funding is cut off.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico