The top Transportation Security Administration official told Congress that airline passengers are currently experiencing some of the highest security wait times in its history, the New York Post reports.
TSA acting administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified to the House Homeland Security Committee that the agency is “being forced to consolidate” and “may have to close smaller airports if we do not have enough officers” amid an ongoing partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown. More than 3,250 officials, accounting for 11.51% of the scheduled national workforce and a record number since the beginning of the shutdown, called out on Saturday as massive security lines grew across the country.
President Donald Trump announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be sent to airports to assist TSA agents on Monday (March 23) in a post shared on his Truth Social account Sunday (March 22) morning. The full list of airports with ICE agents at TSA checkpoints, which is subject to change, is included below:
- Chicago-O’Hare International Airport
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York)
- LaGuardia Airport (New York)
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport
- Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
- Newark Liberty International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
- Pittsburgh International Airport
- Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, Florida)
Airports nationwide have seen long security lines in recent days after TSA officers have quit their jobs or called out sick as they’re forced to continue working without pay.
“We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as screening through the X-ray machine. Not training that, we won’t do that,” Homan said. “But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant roles, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker, and we’re just simply helping our fellow officers at TSA.”
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