Immigration officers have been seen at airports across the U.S. as President Trump deploys immigration officers to help alleviate long lines and severe delays caused by understaffed security checkpoints.
Trump said Saturday he would reassign Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to support the Transportation Security Administration. The Transportation Security Administration has been severely short-staffed over the past week, with thousands of security officers having been working without pay since funding for the Department of Homeland Security expired five weeks ago and a growing number of people claiming unemployment.
The shortages have led to long lines at some major U.S. airports, with some travelers reportedly waiting up to six hours to get through security. With little sign of progress on a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security, the Trump administration has made the agency the center of its controversial immigration crackdown, hoping its officials can help alleviate the problem.
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Mike Beberness
TSA is one of many agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down over the past month as the fight for funding continues over the Trump administration’s immigration policy overhaul. Although the disagreement has nothing to do with the TSA, its employees are still affected because the Department of Homeland Security as a whole does not have the money to pay salaries.
Before DHS funding expired, TSA employees were still being paid on time for the work they did. They received full pay just days after the shutdown began, and partial pay in early March. Last Friday was their first scheduled payday, but they received nothing. Subsequently, the number of annotations increased sharply.
