President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening he planned to sign an executive order instructing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents to be paid during the ongoing government shutdown, which could relieve bogged-down security checkpoints at airports in Houston and across the United States.
The U.S. Senate then voted overnight to fund TSA and much of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), sending the proposed legislation to the House for a vote.
Bush Intercontinental Airport has had one of the nation's highestcall-out rates by TSA agents, who have been working without pay since the shutdown started Feb. 14. Security screening lanes have been open in only two of the airport's terminals in recent days because of staffing shortages, with travelers again facing wait times of three hours or more on Thursday.
Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which were deployed to Houston and some other airports on Monday by the Trump administration, have begunchecking identification, helping with crowd control, guarding exits and entrances and assisting with logistics after receiving standard TSA training, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
During the first few days of the week at Bush Intercontinental, ICE agents werespotted handing out water and patrolling security lines but not assisting with the screening operations, where help was most critically needed.
Haleigh Washington was headed from Houston to Omaha, Nebraska, with her volleyball teammates. She was frustrated by the wait time and said she did not think ICE agents were helping the situation.
"The fact that we don’t have anyone staffing [TSA], but we have 29 people in ICE uniforms standing around is a testament to the fact that you don’t care about the working class," Washington said.
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The TSA staffing shortageshave created the longest wait times in the agency's 24-year history, but relief could be in sight. Trump said his executive order would instruct newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA agents.
The move was applauded by Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). He said in a statement Thursday night that other DHS employees, such as those at FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard, also should be paid.
The partial shutdown has impacted only DHS as Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics. ICE agents have continued to be paid during the shutdown, which has lasted more than 40 days.
"The 47,000 TSA officers represented by AFGE will finally be paid, and we are grateful that action was taken to make that happen," Kelley said. "… Congress needs to continue working to pass a real, bipartisan appropriations deal that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running – even if that means canceling their upcoming vacation."
Acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil was blunt about the realities faced by TSA agents enduring the third government shutdown in just six months when she testified toCongress this week.She said the workforce was still reeling from the last shutdown, when many TSA agents left the agency permanently.
Leaders with the union representing the TSA say airports in cities with higher costs of living place heavier financial burdens on agents, most of whom make around $35,000 per year. Many have called out to seek other sources of income instead of reporting to work without being paid.
"Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their child care, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line and drained their retirement savings," Nguyen McNeil said. "Some are sleeping in their cars, selling blood and plasma and taking on second jobs to make ends meet."
RELATED: Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport has become a symbol for the shutdown’s impacts on air travel
Jim Szczesniak, director of operations with the Houston Airport System, said the TSA staffing shortages are "not sustainable." Of the 37 security lanes usually open at Bush, between a third and half of the lanes are able to be staffed, he said.
Szczesniak also said the airport had reassigned hundreds of employees from finance to maintenance to help manage the lines, adding the airport was partnering with organizations to help the agents in need.
"I watched an officer receive a gas card from one of our partners," Szczesniak said. "They had tears in their eyes."
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