Many travelers at U.S. airports are enduring hours-long wait times at Transportation Security Administration screening checkpoints. That’s because a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security means TSA employees are working without pay, causing nationwide staffing shortages.
On March 24 at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, the lines at both concourse security checkpoints were short. An airport spokesperson said Mitchell is not experiencing unusual wait times.
Traveler Pepe Rezendes was at baggage claim. He's a Cape Verdean originally from Providence, Rhode Island who has called Wisconsin home for the past two decades.
Rezendes said his travel from Rhode Island went well; no complaints. But he is concerned about President Donald Trump sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to major airports. The agents are supposed to help TSA alleviate security delays.
Rezendes said he didn't see ICE officers during his travels, but he was looking for them. He said the thought of potentially interacting with ICE agents is adding to his travel anxiety.
"I ask myself, 'If I get encountered by an ICE agent how am I going to go about it?'" he says. "I would try to cooperate, but they can be a little aggressive. So, that’s my concern."
According to the New York Times, the Trump administration has not released a list of airports where it is sending ICE agents. But they have been spotted at airports in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Houston, among others.
Traveler Anne Einhorn is from Vermont and was visiting her grandchildren in Milwaukee Tuesday. She said she saw ICE agents at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
Einhorn said she expected a long wait at the TSA checkpoint in Vermont, but she made it through with ease.
"I was surprised that there was as many TSA employees that I've seen, at least in the security lines," she said. "I thought there’d be a lot less. I just want to thank them for that because they’re going way above. I don’t know if I’d be able to do that."
As the partial government shutdown continues, President Trump points the blame at Democrats who want to fund TSA but are pushing for reforms to ICE operations, after immigration officers killed two people in Minnesota.
