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A day after Republicans offered to remove money for ICE enforcement from a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, Democrats insisted that the deal must include curbs on federal agents.
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It was unclear whether having agents helping with screening passengers would improve wait times. Some travelers expressed worries.
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Iran Denies Trump's Claim of "Productive" Negotiations to End War, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich Calls for Annexation of Southern Lebanon, U.N. Special Rapporteur Says Israel Has Adopted Torture as State Policy, Cuba Says U.S. Oil Blockade Has Caused Massive Disruptions to Healthcare System, Senate Confirms Markwayne Mullin as Homeland Security Secretary, Replacing Kristi Noem, Unpaid TSA Workers Demand Paychecks as ICE Agents Deploy to U.S. Airports, Videos Show ICE Agents Violently Arresting Mother and Daughter at San Francisco Airport, Supreme Court Scrutinizes Mississippi Law Allowing Mail-In Ballots Postmarked by Election Day, Postmaster General Warns USPS On Track to Run Out of Funds by February, U.N. Warns of Worsening Climate Crisis as U.S. Suffers Record March Heat Waves, Nearly 1,000 New York University Professors Strike for Fair Salaries and Job Security
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The partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security has caused major staffing shortages within the Transportation Security Administration, an agency under DHS that handles airport security procedures created in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. TSA officers have not been paid for over a month, leading to hundreds of resignations and leaves of absence. As airports are hit with significant delays, Cameron Cochems, the vice president of a union representing thousands of fellow TSA workers, urges travelers to use their time waiting to call their elected representatives "to fund the TSA so we can get our paychecks and we can get back to work."
To fill staffing shortages, DHS has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports. This comes as ICE is under fire for a hiring surge with minimal vetting and training for new officers. "It really feels like they're a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Our officers, they're not getting paid, and having people that come in that are getting paid just feels like an insult," says Cochems, who adds that the ultimate goal of the Republican Party is to eliminate union protections and privatize the TSA.
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