TSA staff set to miss second paycheck as partial shutdown enters 36th day; staff shortages disrupt airport operations
\n Washington
\nUS President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports on Monday if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety.
\nTransportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full paycheck on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown in its 36th day as lawmakers clash over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for TSA and ICE.
\nTSA officers have called in sick as paychecks have dried up, and the shortage of security agents has disrupted travel at major airports. More than 400 TSA workers have quit since the partial shutdown began on February 14, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing DHS.
\n\u201cI will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
\nIn a subsequent post, Trump said the deployment would begin on Monday \u201cif the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country.\u201d
\nTSA has about 65,000 employees, including 50,000 airport security officers.
\nICE, central to Trump admin immigration crackdown
\nICE agents are not specifically trained for airport security, which is TSA\u2019s domain. ICE has played a central role in the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, drawing criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.
\nSenator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, criticised Trump\u2019s proposal as \u201canother reckless, lawless threat to misuse ICE agents.\u201d
\n\u201cHe seems to have no concept of what the limits are on ICE, and I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they\u2019ve been breaking down doors at homes,\u201d Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.
\nHomeland Security historically has shifted resources across agencies during emergency staffing shortages, said Stewart Baker, who was a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush\u2019s administration. Keeping TSA going without paying staff creates \u201cserious trouble\u201d for the agency, Baker said.
\nUsing ICE agents for airport security \u201cmay be slower than using trained people, but it would be better than having nobody,\u201d he added.
\nICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, has deployed agents over the past few months to multiple areas as part of the crackdown, most recently to Minnesota in an operation that resulted in agents fatally shooting American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
\nTheir deaths sparked a backlash and led the Trump administration to adopt a more targeted approach in Minnesota.
\nTrump this month fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing criticism of the administration\u2019s immigration tactics. The US Senate is considering the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, as the next DHS secretary.
\nTrump has said his immigration policies are intended to curb illegal immigration and improve national security.
\nLast year, the American Civil Liberties Union said TSA had provided lists of airport travellers to ICE, calling the move a break from TSA\u2019s prior practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TSA staff set to miss second paycheck as partial shutdown enters 36th day; staff shortages disrupt airport operations Washington US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports on Monday if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety. Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-537732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n