The government shutdown has left the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration unfunded, leaving many officers unpaid and prompting rising callouts and long security lines, as reported by Business Insider and CNN.
Absence rates have varied widely, with DHS updates and Business Insider reporting as many as 10 percent of TSA agents calling out on several days and average absences reaching about 20 percent at some airports.
Business Insider cited an absence rate as high as 40.8 percent at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, while CNN reported that on one recent day more than 11 percent of TSA staff nationwide did not show for work and that roughly half of the nation’s busiest airports experienced callout rates above a third.
Airports have seen unpredictable wait times that can change hour to hour, as Sheldon H. Jacobson, an aviation security expert, told Business Insider, explaining that variability stems from fluctuating staffing levels and cross‑training limits among officers.
Reported delays include multihour waits at Hartsfield‑Jackson Atlanta International Airport and more than three hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental, Business Insider and PBS reports said, while other hubs such as Denver, Los Angeles and Las Vegas at times reported much shorter lines.
Several major airports temporarily stopped publishing live wait estimates, according to Business Insider and CNN, and some airports asked the public for donations of food and gift cards to support unpaid TSA staff.
ICE Deployment, Political Standoff, And Operational Concerns
President Donald Trump announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be sent to airports to help manage crowds, with Tom Homan placed to oversee the effort, CNN reported, and DHS indicated ICE‑HSI and ICE‑ERO personnel would report to TSA at selected airports.
CNN said ICE agents were expected to deploy at Hartsfield‑Jackson Atlanta International Airport to assist with crowd control, and the administration described the move as a way to bolster TSA operations where needed.
The plan drew criticism from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and from union leaders who warned ICE agents lack TSA training, while former officials such as John Sandweg called the deployment a political stunt, CNN reported.
Former TSA officials told CNN that ICE personnel might perform exit monitoring and ticket checks after minimal instruction, but that x‑ray operation, bag checks and pat downs require extensive classroom and on‑the‑job training and are not realistic short‑term substitutes.
Legislative efforts to fund parts of DHS separately, including an attempt to fund only TSA pay, failed in the Senate, according to reporting, and negotiators remain split over broader DHS funding and immigration reforms, which officials warned could prolong staffing shortages and raise risks of temporary airport closures if shortages persist.
