Immigration agents were sent to more than a dozen US airports on Monday to help with passenger screening as absences by airport workers who have not been paid in weeks caused long delays.
The Department of Homeland Security said it had sent hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to assist in security at airports where there are significant staffing issues.
Security screeners in the US are known as TSA agents, as they work for the Transportation Security Administration, which falls under the DHS.
They have not been paid for weeks because of a partial government shutdown over DHS funding. They will receive their wages when the crisis is resolved, but many are calling in sick, leading to longer waits at airports.
Democrats do not want to fund the department until new accountability rules are put in place to rein in immigration agents after the killings of two American citizens.
The killings and images of masked ICE agents snatching people believed to be undocumented off the street and in some cases seeming to use excessive force have fuelled a backlash against DHS. President Donald Trump on Monday said agents should not wear masks at airports.
ICE and DHS investigations officers were being deployed to around 14 airports including Atlanta, JFK in New York, New York LaGuardia, Newark, New Orleans, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Newark, Phoenix and Fort Myers, according to officials and social media posts.
Separately, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson – the busiest US airport by passenger traffic – told travellers to arrive at least four hours early on Monday for flights. Social media posts showed ICE agents standing near TSA officers who were checking IDs.
Passengers posted images to social media of lengthy queues, with wait times exceeding two hours reported in some cases.
For now, ICE personnel will not work in areas behind airport security checkpoints because they lack the clearance needed, sources told Reuters.
On Saturday, absences among the approximately 50,000 TSA security staff reached 11.5 per cent, their highest since a partial government shutdown began five weeks ago.
At airports in Houston, New York and Atlanta, more than a third of TSA staff were calling in sick or otherwise absent, DHS said, as the shutdown left tens of thousands working without pay while congressional Democrats and Republicans argue over the DHS budget.
