JASON ALLEN:
00:01:12
Travelers had to deal with similar lines at Houston's Bush Airport and New York City's Kennedy Airport. I'm kind of sick of being involved in this experiment.
JASON ALLEN:
00:01:20
The historically long wait times are the result of a partial government shutdown that has halted payments to TSA officers. Last week, President Trump said he was signing an executive order directing new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to pay TSA. But for many officers, the damage has been done. Tanja Fowler is one of more than 500 who quit during the shutdown. For me, I will never go back to the agency or maybe ever work for the federal government again.
JASON ALLEN:
00:01:49
The House and Senate remain in a stalemate. The major impediment is a disagreement over ICE funding tied to immigration enforcement and removal operations. ICE is out of control. The American people know it. We will not accept a funding bill that does not support our homeland defenders.
JASON ALLEN:
00:02:04
ICE and other DHS agents are assisting security officers at more than a dozen airports nationwide. Border Czar Tom Homan said Sunday there are no plans to remove them until the TSA staffing shortage has been resolved. ICE is there to help our brothers and sisters in TSA. We'll be there as long as they need us until they get back to normal operations and feel like those airports are secure. The wait here is about 30 minutes to an hour or so, depending on where they are. They have been moving people from one terminal to another, whichever line is shorter, Matt. That is a lot better than it has been at times over the past week.
MATT GUTMAN:
00:02:39
It certainly is after multiple-hour waits. Jason, thank you.
