WASHINGTON – Air travelers are currently facing unprecedented wait times as reported by the acting head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday. This announcement comes amidst a stalemate over funding that aims to limit President Donald Trump’s extensive deportation efforts, which continues to spark significant opposition.
Ha Nguyen McNeill from the TSA highlighted the increasing difficulties for unpaid airport personnel, who are struggling with overdue bills, eviction threats, and even resorting to plasma donations to cover their expenses. She urged lawmakers to take action, emphasizing the importance of preventing a recurrence of this situation.
“This is a dire situation,” she stated emphatically.
As the deadlock involving the Department of Homeland Security entered its 40th day, a resolution seemed elusive. Republican senators made a new offer, but both they and the Democrats, who are pushing for stronger immigration enforcement reforms, showed little progress towards finding common ground.
While President Trump initially seemed open to the proposed deal, he has yet to fully endorse it or actively work to ensure its passage.
During a session of the House Homeland Security Committee, senior officials from agencies under the DHS highlighted the potential risks of security breaches if the partial government shutdown continues without resolution.
A deal teeters on collapse
DHS has gone without routine funding since mid-February. Democrats are insisting on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations after the killings of two citizens in Minneapolis by federal officers during protests.
The latest proposal would fund most of DHS except for the enforcement and removal operations of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement that have been central to the debate. The plan would cover other aspects of ICE as well as Customs and Border Protection.
While the offer added some new restraints on immigration officers, including the use of body cameras, it excluded other policies that Democrats have demanded.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York pressed for “bold” changes at ICE.
Republican leaders said Democrats are putting the country at risk.
“They know this is crazy,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
But conservative Republicans also panned the proposal, demanding full funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from GOP leaders that they would address Trump’s proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a subsequent legislative package.
Airport lines grow
as TSA workers endure hardships
McNeill, the acting TSA administrator, told lawmakers that multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates and more than 480 transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown.
She cited the growing financial strain on the TSA workforce.
“Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet, all while being expected to perform at the highest level when in uniform to protect the traveling public,” she said.
McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation’s airports have experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the shutdown began.
“This is unacceptable and it will not be tolerated,” McNeill said.
The top executive over Houston’s airport said security lines that have travelers waiting four hours or more could get longer if the political impasse was not soon settled.
Lines that twist and turn across multiple floors at George Bush Intercontinental Airport have been the result of TSA only being able to staff one-third to one-half the usual number of checkpoint lines, said Jim Szczesniak, aviation director for Houston’s airport system.
Trump’s decision to send ICE agents to the airports risks inflaming the situation, lawmakers have said. Video footage of federal officers detaining a crying woman at San Francisco International Airport drew outrage Monday from local officials, although it was unrelated to Trump’s order to deploy immigration officers.
FEMA also at risk
FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund is “rapidly depleting,” Victoria Barton, a FEMA external affairs official, told lawmakers.
FEMA is able to continue its disaster response and recovery work as long as that fund has money, and about 10,000 of its disaster workers continue being paid through it.
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Associated Press writers Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Russ Bynum in Houston and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed to this report.
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