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ICE Agents Take a More Active Role in Airport Security, but Long Lines Persist Ahead of the Weekend Traveler Rush
Houston Mayor John Whitmire highlights federal funding lapse causing TSA staffing shortages and up to five-hour security waits amid a busy weekend of sports events at Houston airports.
- On Wednesday, Houston Mayor John Whitmire demanded federal legislators resolve the government shutdown, urging officials to "get in the room" and stay until reaching a deal to fix unacceptable airport wait times.
- The partial government shutdown left Transportation Security Administration workers without pay for six weeks, causing staffing shortages; more than 480 officers quit and 3,000 called out on Tuesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security .
- Financial hardship has forced TSA employees to sell blood or skip meals to survive, with TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill reporting that "Officers are reportedly sleeping in their cars at airports to save gas."
- Whitmire criticized the National Deployment Office for allocating 40 of 50 extra officers to Hobby Airport instead of George Bush Intercontinental Airport , claiming this contributed to longer lines at the larger facility.
- Houston faces a high-traffic sports weekend with the Texas Children's Houston Open and March Madness Sweet 16 games; Whitmire warned airport lines could return to four- or five-hour waits without federal resolution.
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13 Articles
13 Articles
ICE agents take a more active role in airport security, but long lines persist ahead of the weekend traveler rush
ICE agents are assisting TSA workers as Congress keeps haggling over how to end the partial government shutdown that has driven mounting staffing shortages and the longest security wait times ever.
·Atlanta, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources13
Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution84% Center
Bias Distribution
- 84% of the sources are Center
84% Center
C 84%
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