Incredibly long lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport continue to create travel snarls as Congress took off for a two-week recess this week amid a partial government shutdown causing the chaos. Meanwhile, unions and elected officials are advocating for holding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accountable and getting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers paid. Lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have been pushing for a bipartisan Senate deal that would have reopened the TSA, as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Coast Guard, but House Republicans rejected it on March 27. Jeffries blamed Republicans for the continued shutdown and airport chaos.
“Mr. Speaker, we believe that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just, and humane. That’s not what’s happening right now. ICE is out of control,” Jeffries said in an impassioned speech on the House floor. “The American people know it, which is why changes need to be made that are bold, meaningful, dramatic, transformational, and common sense at the same period of time. Instead, Republicans have chosen to double- and triple-down on their extremism, on their brutality, and on their violence that has been unleashed on everyday Americans all across the country.”
Jeffries said that the legislation is categorically not about defunding ICE since the agency received $75 billion, a “$65 billion slush fund” for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and $165 billion for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overall in the passage of Trump’s tax bill. He added that the same bill defunded Medicaid for millions of Americans, and made cuts to nutritional assistance for children, seniors, and veterans.
“[Speaker] Mike Johnson has chosen to say no to a bipartisan bill so he could say yes to continuing to force TSA agents to work without pay,” said Jeffries. “Mike Johnson has said no to a bipartisan bill so he can say yes to continuing to inconvenience millions of the American people across the country. Mike Johnson has said no to a bipartisan bill so House Republicans could say yes to chaos at airports all across the country. Mike Johnson has said no to a bipartisan bill so House Republicans can continue to say yes to ICE brutality.”
The usual funding for the DHS), which the TSA agency is under, expired on February 14 as politicians fought over increasingly dangerous immigration enforcement. For months, there have been been massive delays and TSA workers going unpaid. JFK and LaGuardia security checkpoints have posted ICE agents but they are doing very little to assist with actual screening functions.
“For over five weeks, TSA officers across the country showed up without being paid to ensure the safety of the flying public and our airports,” said Hydrick Thomas, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) TSA Council 100, in a statement. “We have performed our duty. Unfortunately, Congress has failed to perform theirs. To leave Washington while tens of thousands of workers are going without pay shows a clear lack of respect for the essential employees tasked with keeping our nation safe.”
Small wins
President Donald Trump was forced to issue an executive order to get TSA agents paid as the busy travel season ramps up.
Thomas said some members have received backpay, although several have received incorrect pay amounts, missed overtime payments, and improper tax withholdings. As a result, many AFGE members still have piled up bills, interest, and late fees; have had their cars repossessed; and have seen their families thrown into disarray, he said.
“To say we are utterly disgusted and disappointed with our elected officials is an understatement. Congress must come back to Washington, fix this crisis, and stop putting politics over people and vacation over values,” said Thomas.
The U.S Senate also voted on March 26 to fund all of the DHS through the end of the fiscal year with the exception of ICE and CBP.
“This long-overdue agreement in the Senate to pass funding for TSA allows Congress to continue to work on necessary reforms to ICE and CBP. The House must now pass this bill,” said Public Citizen Co-president Lisa Gilbert in a statement.
Completely crazy that this is what America is now