Airport security lines in Austin stretched outside the door early Friday with passengers waiting hours to board their flights amid pressure on Congressional lawmakers to reach a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Video footage posted online showed Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport well outside at least one terminal building.
“Thanks to the Democrats’ reckless shutdown, security lines at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are stretching OUT THE DOOR,” a DHS post on X states. “The Democrats’ political games are making spring break travel a NIGHTMARE as they continue to withhold funding from DHS and refuse to pay our @TSA officers.”
AIRLINES CANCEL FLIGHTS, ISSUE TRAVEL WAIVERS OVER MIDDLE EAST UNREST
DHS saw its funding lapse a month ago, having a direct impact on TSA workers, who have not been paid, and the traveling public.
Extended lines at the airport began around 5 a.m. local time, but cleared up around two hours later, the airport said.
Throughout the morning, the airport posted videos of seemingly empty checkpoints and some with a few passengers.
The airport warned passengers departing on Saturday to arrive at least 2.5 hours before their flight amid an expected busy day. The busiest time will be between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., it said.
Growing lines at airports across the country have ratcheted up pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal to fund DHS as members of both parties continue to hear complaints from their constituents.
More than 300 TSA have quit since the DHS shutdown began and callouts are approximately double the normal rate, a TSA spokesperson told FOX Business.
“Today, 100,000 DHS workers will not get paid, missing their first full paycheck as a result of the Democrat DHS shutdown. This amounts to $1 BILLION in unpaid wages each month,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “TSA employees have been forced to work without pay three times in six months due to Democrats’ reckless shutdowns.”
The wait times for security lines will worsen as the shutdown continues, the spokesperson said, while accusing Democrats of playing politics.
The lack of funding stems from the political impasse over demands by Democrats to reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.
“We are in a negotiation. However, we are not close,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said at one point. “You may think this is some issue that we think we’re going to turn to our political advantage, but I promise you, when we saw Renee Good and Alex Pretti killed, this became an issue that was beyond politics.”
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Meanwhile, some Republicans have said they will oppose changes to ICE sought by the Democrats.
“Let me be clear, we are going to do nothing — nothing — that kneecaps ICE’s ability to enforce our immigration laws,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
The TSA website and app paused operations on Feb. 17. The site “will not be updated until after funding is enacted,” the TSA says on its site — leaving travelers high and dry when it comes to finding wait time information.
“Today, tens of thousands of TSA employees are receiving empty paychecks. Zero dollars,” Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu said in a statement Friday. “Two weeks ago, these same TSA employees received partial paychecks. Last fall, they had to survive 43 days without pay.
“This failure of government to simply pay federal aviation employees is wrong. It is unfair,” added Sununu, the former governor of New Hampshire. “And it is a disgrace that Congress cannot reach an agreement or act on viable bipartisan solutions that have already been introduced.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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