(AFP) – Airports across the United States are feeling the strain of a partial government shutdown causing a shortage of travel safety agents, leading to extended travel delays for air passengers. “Please plan to arrive to the Airport 3 hours early if you have travel scheduled,” the New Orleans Airport posted Monday on social media, the latest transportation hub snarled by extended wait times due to short-staffing.
Since February 14, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees US air travel security, has had funding frozen due to ongoing disagreements between Congressional Democrats and Republicans over another agency overseen by the department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Thousands of federal DHS employees have been furloughed, while others have been asked to keep working without pay until Congress passes a budget. Some Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents opt to call in sick rather than work without pay, leading to staffing shortages and delaying travelers.
Major airline hub airports — Atlanta in the southeastern state of Georgia and Houston in the southern state of Texas — have also faced hours-long waits due to low TSA staffing. Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday criticized the lack of progress in reaching a deal to fund DHS. “Negotiations have been going now for well over a month,” the Republican said. “And Democrats have sent two offers to the White House. Two offers that were basically the same. No compromise. No give-and-take. Just ‘take it or leave it.'”
Democrats in Congress, for their part, have stalled DHS funding until significant reforms are made with ICE agents. Demands for ICE reforms reached a fever pitch in January after federal agents killed two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, on the streets of Minneapolis. “What we want is a situation where ICE is actually conducting itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country, as opposed to using taxpayer dollars to brutalize, or in some cases kill, American citizens,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday on “Face the Nation” from broadcaster NBC News.
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