TSA wait times aren’t going down at some of America’s largest airports, despite ICE officers being sent to help with record-long security lines.
TSA wait times at some of America’s largest airports are still at record highs this week, despite ICE agents being sent to help with long lines as the standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security continues.
TSA agents have gone 41 days without pay after DHS funding was halted in mid-February ahead of the busy spring travel season, leading to widespread TSA callouts and chaos at airports across the country. Here’s the latest: On Monday, President Trump sent immigration enforcement officers to various airports in an effort to curb TSA wait times that have exceeded four hours for some travelers. RELATED: Trump floats idea to send National Guard to assist ICE agents at airportsBut record wait times persisted Wednesday and were expected to continue Thursday. 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, Jim Szczesniak, aviation director for Houston’s airport system, told The Associated Press. Lines at Atlanta’s airport, meanwhile, have been described as "like a box of chocolates," a reference to the "Forrest Gump" line that ends with "you never know what you’re gonna get."Asked about TSA wait times this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt conceded they hadn’t decreased "as much as we’d like," but acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill told Congress that ICE agents have provided critical assistance. Trump has also floated the idea of sending the National Guard to airports, but he didn't elaborate. Democrats have questioned how effective ICE officers have been at airports, and whether their presence could inflame an already tense situation.RELATED: Here’s how you can support TSA agents working without pay"I see them all sitting down looking at their phones or chit-chatting," Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Michigan Democrat, said Wednesday. "It looks like they have no role to play."Trump told reporters Monday that he came up with the idea to send ICE agents to airports, likening it to the invention of the paper clip."It was so simple, and everybody that looked at it said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ ICE was my idea," Trump told reporters Monday. The president’s "simple" idea came a day after a caller suggested the same plan on a conservative talk radio station. "Linda from Arizona" shared her thoughts on sending ICE agents to airports on the "Clay and Buck" radio show, and host Clay Travis repeated the idea on Fox News later the same day, according to The Washington Post. A day later, Trump said he’d sent ICE agents to airports if Democrats didn’t make a deal on funding DHS. "There was no record of anybody making this suggestion before," Travis told The Washington Post. " put that idea into the intellectual world of Trump, and it found its way to him."McNeill 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."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.Democrats say they won’t vote to fund Homeland Security unless the Trump administration makes changes to its immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations after the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal officers during protests.The latest GOP proposal would fund most of DHS except for the enforcement and removal operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that have been central to the debate. The plan would provide money for other aspects of ICE as well as Customs and Border Protection.RELATED: Minnesota sues DOJ, DHS over access to evidence in Renee Good, Alex Pretti shootingsWhile the offer added some new restraints on immigration officers, including the use of body cameras, it excluded other policies that Democrats have demanded, such as requirements that federal agents wear identification and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places.Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. "We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one," he said.Republican leaders said Democrats are putting the country at risk."They know this is crazy," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.The Senate is expected to vote again Thursday on advancing the original DHS funding bill that Democrats have rejected in previous votes.
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