Re: “Agents helping with airport security,” March 24 news story

The TSA officers who have remained on the job through the asinine shutdown of Homeland Security should be offered a substantial bonus once the shutdown is over. Maybe delay bombings in Iran for one day and use those funds to reward the TSA officers.

Alan Aldrich, Thornton

These government shutdowns continue to be problematic and affect all of us. They are now the standard for our elected officials. Our government employees, such as TSA, should not have to look for other jobs because our elected officials aren’t interested in compromise.

I have 3 suggestions for laws Congress should pass.

1. When a shutdown occurs, it’s only Congress members who don’t get paid.

2. When the government shutdown is over, Congress doesn’t get back pay.

3. Congress needs to have term limits: Two terms in the Senate and three or four terms in the House. This would be on par with many state legislative bodies.

Alan P. Aboaf, Centennial

Religion spawns division and wars

Something not mentioned about the current wars is that they are largely religious in nature. That should be a warning for us. Religions and their gods do not get along. Even within faiths, the interpretation of the sacred books can vary. Protestants in the United States have many denominations. Islam has two major sects that are often in conflict.

It was with good cause that the writers of our Constitution included the separation of church and state. Once a religion gains ascendance, it creates a horrible blood-rendering state. There are too many examples of religion trying to control all of us, and only for their ends, not ours.

You see the pictures of bowed heads, hands on the president¶¶Òőap shoulders in the Oval Office and the other worldly atmosphere in the gaudy room. These are the people urging greater wars so as to cause the return of their god. They also intend to strangle us with their laws and beliefs: no abortions, the ten commandments in every classroom, and a Secretary of “War” who uses scripture to justify the killing of thousands.

When asked what was meant by the First Amendment regarding religion, President Thomas Jefferson referred to “a wall.” Total separation.

Religion should be banned from public and governmental places and ceremonies, and taxed as the businesses they are.

As an atheist, there is a verse in the New Testament that I think all religious people should follow. It is Matthew 6:6. In brief, it says those who wish to pray should go into their closets and close the doors.

Mack Hitch, Sterling

The Cuban leaders aren’t suffering with the people

We hear a lot of wailing and moaning these days about how much the Cuban people are suffering: food shortages, medicine shortages, energy shortages, blackouts. It seems to never end.

However, I’m sure the Cuban Communist ruling elite are not suffering. Like all communist dictatorships, and all dictatorships in general, I’m sure the ruling elite have all the food, medicine, energy and lighting they want.

It is too bad for the Cuban people that the communist rulers disarmed the populace after the revolution ended in January of 1959. Just imagine how things would be different for the Cuban people if they had the means of securing a government that was for the people and of the people, rather than a hereditary communist (ie, Castro-centric) dictatorship.

Richard D. VanOrsdale, Broomfield

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Security at DIA over the past two weeks averaged 12 minutes, according to airport records. Travelers never waited longer than 35 minutes, and often got through in less than 10 minutes, airport officials said this week.

That compares with chaos at other airports around the country, where lengthy wait lines delayed travelers for hours. TSA officers have been forced to work without pay for weeks as the partial government shutdown, which started Jan. 31, drags on, leading to short staffing. The long lines prompted the Trump administration to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to help the TSA address backups at more than a dozen other airports.

In Denver, a $2.1 billion overhaul of the signature white tent-topped main terminal included a security checkpoints makeover. DIA contractors installed 34 security screening lanes using the latest that allow passengers to keep laptops in their bags and facial recognition technology to speed processing. These replaced 42 old-style lanes.

TSA teams can screen 180 to 240 passengers an hour per lane.

DIA’s west-side checkpoint opened in February 2024. The east-side checkpoint opened in August 2025. Before the terminal reconstruction is completed next year, airport officials plan to install another 12 screening lanes.

After investing $60 million in the equipment for the two new checkpoints, DIA donated it to TSA along with manufacturer warranty, maintenance, and support services, officials said this week in an emailed statement.

DIA made “significant investments in its checkpoint technology, which enhances the experience for every traveler passing through our airport,” officials said. “However, these improvements do not diminish the critical role our federal TSA partners play in keeping operations smooth and secure.”

TSA officials did not respond to questions.

During the shutdown, DIA last week struggled to deal with an unexpected Xcel Energy power outage that caused havoc for hundreds of travelers. But airport officials reported that “TSA workers are showing up to work at DIA.”

DIA rallied public support, launching a donations campaign that has brought in more than 2,759 grocery and gas gift cards to help security officers working without pay handle daily living expenses. “We are grateful to the TSA employees who are continuing to come to work to maintain normal operations.”

The officers were not making arrests or screening passengers. The Trump administration vaguely said they would supplement Transportation Security Administration staffing at certain airports. But after a year of intensified immigration enforcement and protests in cities across the country, their appearance at airport checkpoints has unsettled some travelers and raised new questions about how far their presence might extend.

On Monday, Associated Press journalists observed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents patrolling terminals and lingering near long lines of passengers at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston and Louis Armstrong International Airport outside New Orleans.

A handful of other airports — including Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston — also confirmed ICE would be on site.

Officials at Denver International Airport said in a statement Monday that security screening was operating normally and that “we have not received any communication indicating that ICE agents will be staffing our checkpoints.” DIA was not on a where deployments of federal immigration agents were expected Monday.

Wait times at the Denver airport’s security checkpoints have not been as lengthy as the hours-long delays seen at some other airports during the shutdown. At various points Monday, security wait times at DIA’s new East and West checkpoints ranged from zero to 20 minutes, according to the .

Officials at ICE’s Denver field office did not respond to The Denver Post’s request for information Monday.

Federal law enforcement officers are a routine presence at international airports. Customs and Border Protection officers screen arriving passengers, and Homeland Security Investigations agents conduct complex criminal inquiries tied to cross-border activity. But immigration agents are rarely visible at TSA checkpoints, the front line of domestic air travel — and their presence there, even in a limited role, stands out.

ICE deployments arrive amid ongoing Washington impasse

Monday’s deployments came as , including from the TSA, have ÌęČőŸ±ČÔłŠ±đÌę last month.

Funding for the department lapsed Feb. 14, as Democrats refused to fund ICE as well as Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations in the wake of the deaths of ÌęČčČÔ»ćÌę in Minneapolis. But the stalemate only deepened with Trump rejecting the latest offer, this one from his own Republican party, after a weekend of negotiations.

The White House staff pitched Trump on the idea of funding DHS, except for the immigration operations that have been central to the dispute, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. Still, Trump rejected that plan and later Sunday escalated his demands that senators also approve the so-called SAVE America Act, a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill that has essentially no chance in Congress.

The White House on Monday turned down a request from top Democratic negotiator, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, to meet that morning and continue talks, according to another person granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

Democrats are  to federal immigration operations — including policy changes that would require ICE officers to get a warrant from a judge before forcefully entering homes, the removal of masks and clear identifying information on uniforms.

Unlike many recent immigration operations in U.S. cities, where federal agents have often worn face coverings, ICE officers at airports Monday appeared to be largely not masked — following an earlier direction by Trump.

Fears that the deployments will heighten tension

Some fear that positioning federal immigration officers at security checkpoints will only escalate tensions. Union leaders representing aviation workers stressed that ICE officers don’t have the same training and expertise as TSA workers — and the presence of federal immigration officers could also put some travelers on edge.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees — which represents TSA officers — said in a statement that his members “deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”

Whether ICE will have a more sweeping role beyond watching long lines and patrolling terminals has yet to be seen. On Sunday, Trump said federal immigration officers could assist TSA by guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs — and the president has since suggested he could deploy the National Guard at airports, too.

ICE and TSA have been “working together so far very well,” Trump said at a Monday public safety roundtable in Memphis. Still, he said he would “bring out the National Guard” if more personnel is needed.

Long wait times persisted at some major hubs Monday.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Jackson, for example, is still urging passengers to allow at least four hours for both domestic and international screenings. The check-in line for departing passengers was so long Monday that it snaked from the TSA screening area to the atrium, through the baggage claim and out the entrance doors with people in back of the line waiting outside. But ICE agents were not seen checking IDs or otherwise interacting with passengers.

“I may miss my flight that¶¶Òőap in one hour,” said Jeffrey Lewis, who was waiting in line Monday hoping to catch his flight from Atlanta to Phoenix. “I think that the government is full of it. I really do.”

Beyond TSA operations, many travelers on the East Coast faced additional disruptions  that killed two people and injured dozens of others on the runway of New York’s LaGuardia Airport. LaGuardia was  as air traffic was diverted for much of Monday.

TSA workers have been going without pay

After weeks of missed paychecks, many TSA agents have called in sick — or  — as financial strains pile up. The  have forced some airports to close checkpoints at times, with  for travelers.

TSA callout rates climbed over the weekend. Nationwide on Sunday, 11.8% of TSA agents missed work — the highest rate of the shutdown so far — with more than 3,450 officers calling out, according to DHS. More than 400 officers have quit during the shutdown, the department said.

Some have accused the government of using TSA workers as pawns in the ongoing budget fight. And aviation unions have raised additional safety concerns in light of the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration officers.

“This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans,” a coalition of unions representing aviation workers — including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — said in a Sunday statement. Transportation security officers “can’t simply be replaced” by federal immigration officers, they noted, adding that ICE’s presence and potential attempts to question passengers about immigration status may also “distract them from ensuring airport security.”

The unions called for TSA workers to be paid immediately — noting that, in contrast, ICE officers are among DHS workers who have continued to see paychecks as the partial shutdown drags on.

While routine funding that is used to pay TSA agents has lapsed, ICE and other immigration enforcement operations are funded with personnel receiving paychecks thanks to Trump’s big tax cuts bill that became law last year. It ballooned the DHS budget for immigration detention and deportation by billions.

Associated Press journalists Lisa Mascaro, Seung Min Kim, Tia Goldenberg, and Collin Binkley in Washington; Emilie Megnien and Mike Stewart in Atlanta; Stephen Smith in New Orleans; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Across the country, collections are popping up to help Transportation Security Administration officers who have been without full pay for more than a month due to the affecting the Department of Homeland Security.

The charity World Central Kitchen, more accustomed to feeding those in war zones and disaster areas, started providing meals to Washington, D.C.-area airports after many TSA officers missed their first full paycheck. On Thursday, Feeding San Diego began distributing 400 boxes with pasta, beans and peanut butter as well as fresh produce like strawberries and potatoes to affected agents near the airport after a request from TSA and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

Nonprofits are stepping in to help and coordinating closely with airports and local TSA offices because ethics rules around giving gifts to federal employees make it difficult for those affected by the shutdown to receive help directly.

Carissa Casares from Feeding San Diego said communicating with the airport means they can better tailor their resources and response to TSA workers’ needs.

“We need to work directly with the people who have direct access to these employees and get this food to them at a time and location that is most convenient to them,” Casares said.

Saturday marks the 36th day that the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations after the killings of and in Minneapolis.

More than 120,000 DHS employees are working without pay, including roughly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers as on limits to immigration enforcement drag on.

The funding lapse comes just months after a 43-day government shutdown, the longest in the nation’s history, which drove across the U.S. as over 700,000 federal workers worked without pay.

Rules limit what help TSA officers can accept

For those wanting to help, it¶¶Òőap not as simple as going to the airport and giving cash or gift cards directly to TSA officers, who are prohibited from accepting gifts at screening locations, according to a DHS spokesperson.

But Aaron Barker, president of the AFGE Local 554 in Georgia, said TSA officer unions don’t have the same restrictions and can accept donations to distribute to their members. Barker recommends those who want to donate look up their local union district on the AFGE website, or give through their local labor council.

“For some people it can be life or death,” said Barker. “It¶¶Òőap just sad and terrible that this is happening.”

Union members have told Barker they’re unable to cover utility bills or pay for their children’s medical procedures. They’ve received eviction notices or had cars repossessed. They’re having trouble affording routine items, too.

“People don’t think about the things they just naturally have in their home, like toothpaste, bathroom tissue, milk, detergent, dish liquid,” he said. “I’m sure those things are a necessity for every TSA officer.”

Nonetheless, no donation can be as effective as an end to the shutdown. “The first thing they want is their paycheck,” said Barker. “The money is the most immediate need.”

Coordination between nonprofits and TSA

Operation Food Search is working closely with TSA to safely deliver food and set up a temporary pantry at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

The Missouri hunger relief nonprofit¶¶Òőap CEO said it is the first time they’ve distributed directly to TSA employees where they work.

“It removes their need to make an extra trip and drive here,” Kristen Wild said. “So we’re really excited that the airport allowed us to directly serve right there.”

They gave away just over half their 400 prepared food bags during a 2-hour period earlier this week, according to Wild. Each bag contained just under $20 worth of nonperishables such as apple sauce, pasta, rice and beans. Rules prohibit federal employees from soliciting or accepting gifts or items of monetary value greater than $20 if the gift is related to their government position.

Wild said she thought the $20 limit might be waived since they were distributing food through airport-approved channels.

“We didn’t know for sure,” Wild said. “But to play it safe we just kept it right under the $20 per bag amount so there would be no challenge to it.”

Airport communities band together

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport officials were fielding PETA donations and local food banks’ pallets on Friday afternoon as they stocked their private pantry for off-shift TSA staff.

But they’ve also seen dining vendors, usually tasked with feeding hungry travelers, step up. Airport tenants have offered discounts and donated through TSA to cover entire shifts’ meals, according to airport spokesperson Perry Cooper.

“You know a lot of these people,” Cooper said. “You see faces and that throughout the day as you’re wandering through. And then to realize that some of these folks are here and they’re not getting paid, you know, really tugs at your heart to think what¶¶Òőap a way that we can help.”

The airport community’s support adds to the roughly $6,000 they’ve received in cash and gift cards plus another $10,000 worth of food and household products, Cooper said. That includes donations from the labor union for air traffic controllers, whose jobs are unimpacted by but who understand the from full government closures.

More than 460 people picked up fresh produce when local nonprofit Food Lifeline brought a truckload last Friday, according to Cooper. Most of the attendees were TSA staff, Cooper said, though some people might have been homeless. Boxes including pineapples and broccoli lined folding tables along the airport¶¶Òőap main drive.

Regular travelers like Musie Hidad said he thinks about the TSA agents working unpaid every time he enters through security.

“The work they are doing is serious and they aren’t getting paid for it,” said Hidad, an Amarillo, Texas, resident, who was traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for work. “My heart goes out to them.”

AP video journalist Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos contributed to this report from Columbus, Ohio.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit .

NEW YORK — The CEOs of the nation’s top airline companies, including American, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue, are imploring Congress to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security and embrace a bipartisan solution to including airport security officers during the partial government shutdown.

“Once again, air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,” the executives wrote in an to Congress that was published Sunday online and in The Washington Post.

The letter, which was also signed by the CEOs of the cargo companies UPS, FedEx and Atlas Air, said that Congress should pass the Aviation Funding Solvency Act and the Aviation Funding Stability Act, which would guarantee air traffic controllers are paid regardless of the government¶¶Òőap funding status, as well as the Keep America Flying Act. That measure would offer the same protections to Transportation Security Administration officers tasked to provide security and to screen all travelers.

”It¶¶Òőap difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid,” the letter said.

The current partial shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA. Democrats in Congress refused to fund the department over objections to its immigration enforcement tactics. The lapse marks the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay — and once the government reopens, to have to wait for back pay.

Democratic lawmakers have said DHS won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of and in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The CEOs noted that with spring break in full swing, FIFA’s World Cup 2026 approaching and celebrations for America’s 250th birthday throughout the year, the stakes are high. The letter said that U.S. airlines expect 171 million passengers this spring season.

As the latest drags on, there have been long security lines at a growing number of U.S airports.

The TSA and Homeland Security have consistently blamed Democrats for the long security lines.

Homeland Security posted on its X account last week that more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown.

The agency’s said Jeffco Public Schools violated and gave Colorado’s second-largest K-12 system 10 days to agree to a proposed resolution — including reversing any policies that allow transgender students to play sports — or “risk imminent enforcement action.” 

Jeffco Public Schools pushed back Friday afternoon, saying the Education Department’s “conclusion is erroneous” and conflicts with Colorado law.

“Providing equal access to programs and services for all Jeffco students, including those who are transgender, does not violate Title IX,” district leaders said in a statement. “The department’s interpretation has no basis in the Title IX regulations and is not supported by any binding court decision.”

The Education Department has targeted K-12 districts nationwide for their policies supporting transgender students since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, threatening to pull their federal funding for what the administration calls discriminatory policies.

Attorneys specializing in Title IX have previously told The Denver Post that the Trump administration is misapplying the landmark civil rights law, which was created to ensure girls and women can participate in school activities without sexual harassment.

Last year, the Office of Civil Rights issued a similar determination that Denver Public Schools had discriminated against girls in violation of Title IX by creating gender-neutral bathrooms at East High School and enacting policies that allow students to use facilities that correspond with their gender identities.

In September, DPS defied the Education Department’s deadline to convert the restrooms back into single-sex facilities or face unspecified “enforcement action.” But the district never heard back from the agency about the Title IX investigation, DPS spokesman Bill Good said Friday.

The Trump administration launched its investigation into Jeffco Public Schools last year after a family sued the district in 2024, alleging their daughter went on an overnight trip and was assigned to share a bed with a transgender girl.

“Today’s findings reveal sweeping Title IX violations by Jefferson County Public Schools — denying fairness and equality to female students by allowing males into their private facilities, overnight accommodations and athletics,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said . “The district¶¶Òőap decision to prioritize ‘gender identity’ over ensuring equal access for its female students is unconscionable.”

The federal government has requested that Jeffco Public Schools agree to a settlement that includes rescinding any policies that allow transgender students to access girls’ facilities — including overnight accommodations — and to play on female sports teams, according to the civil rights office.

The Department of Education’s proposed settlement also would require Jeffco Public Schools to issue a public statement that says the district will use “biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female,'” the agency said.

“The statement shall specify that Title IX applies irrespective of state law or regulation and the policies of sports governing bodies, and provide instructions for how to report or file a complaint of sex discrimination under the district¶¶Òőap grievance policies,” the Education Department said.

Jeffco Public Schools officials did not say directly whether they plan to comply with the Education Department’s proposed settlement.

“As we consider next steps in partnership with our community and state and local officials, two things remain certain: (1) Jeffco will continue to maintain its compliance with the law, and (2) we will center decisions on providing exemplary, equitable educational opportunities for all students,” the district said in its statement.

The Department of Education said it received athletic rosters that showed “male students occupy 61 roster positions on girls sports teams” at Jeffco schools, according to an agency news release. The Post could not immediately verify the department’s claims.

Transgender students’ participation in sports has become a flashpoint for conservatives and schools. The has for years recognized the right of transgender athletes to participate on sports teams that match their gender identities, but agreed last year not to penalize districts’ transgender athlete bans.

The heard arguments in January regarding bans on transgender girls and women playing school sports and appeared from participating.

Jeffco Public Schools said the federal government’s stance, including its proposed agreement, conflicts with state law. District officials said in their statement that Jeffco’s policies are in alignment with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, previous federal guidance on Title IX and CHSAA policy.

“Prior federal administrations have taken the direct opposite view — that Title IX protects transgender students’ access to school programs and facilities,” Jeffco Public Schools officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It¶¶Òőap the second time in five months that DIA has campaigned for support to help sustain government employees at the airport during shutdowns.

At the airport, “federal employees are working tirelessly to ensure our airport operates efficiently and safely without getting paid,” DIA chief executive Phil Washington said in a statement. “TSA employees just missed their first paycheck, and as we enter a busy spring break travel period, we want to do what we can to ease the stress of this moment.”

The donations are intended “to help make this moment a little more bearable” for the airport’s federal workers, Washington said.

DIA officials said they’re seeking donated grocery store and gas gift card donations, only in denominations of $10 or $20, ideally from stores like King Soopers, Safeway, Walmart, Costco, and Target that sell both gas and food. Visa gift cards cannot be accepted.

DONATIONS NEEDED Support the dedicated TSA employees working without pay by donating $10 and $20 grocery store and gas gift cards. Visa gift cards cannot be accepted.

Drop off locations can be found at Final Approach cell phone lot and in the Jeppesen Terminal.

— Denver Int'l Airport (@DENAirport)

Collection bins and secure lock boxes have been set up in DIA’s Great Hall in the main passenger terminal and at the “final approach” cell phone lot outside the airport. Airport officials said the campaign will continue until the shutdown ends.

In November, DIA officials to allow the use of airport revenues to support FAA air traffic controllers, TSA screeners, Customs and Border Protection agents, and others among the 1,800 federal workers ordered to work without pay during a 43-day shutdown. The FAA had ordered flight reductions. DIA officials planned to seek reimbursement from the federal government later. That shutdown ended before airport officials tried to use aviation revenues for this purpose.

The latest shutdown began on Feb. 14 and affects the Department of Homeland Security, due to a political battle over restrictions on immigration operations following Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

TSA passenger screening operations suffered last weekend at airports in Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans, where thousands of travelers waited in lines for up to three hours. DIA travelers so far have been spared major disruptions, with on Thursday morning mostly under 22 minutes. But airport officials are bracing for a spring break surge with more than 1.3 million travelers moving through security checkpoints.

On Wednesday, senators — both Republicans and Democrats — vented frustrations with a lack of progress in funding the DHS. The impact on Americans enduring long lines at some airports is expected to intensify as the impasse enters its fourth week.

This week, at DIA remained mostly under eight minutes.

The shutdown that began on Feb. 14 — due to a fight over restrictions on immigration operations — means officers will miss their first full paychecks this weekend. They’ve been ordered to work without pay, as they were during a 43-day shutdown last year.

TSA disruptions hit hard at airports in Atlanta, Houston, and New Orleans, forcing thousands of travelers to wait for up to three hours.

TSA officials did not respond to questions about staffing levels and the impact of the shutdown at DIA.

The agency forecasts 1.3 million passengers will move through DIA’s security checkpoints between Wednesday and March 29, 2026. The busiest travel days will likely be Fridays and Sundays, DIA officials said.

Denver officials to check TSA security wait times online (FlyDenver.com/security) and to arrive inside the airport at least two hours before boarding. “Security wait times can change quickly, and there is the potential for longer lines, especially during peak times (3 to 4:30 a.m., 8 to 10 a.m., and 3 to 5 p.m.),” officials said Tuesday in a statement.

DIA relies on state-of-the-art east and west side security checkpoints, installed as part of a $2.1 billion overhaul that is scheduled for completion next year.

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen on Tuesday called on Congress to pass to ensure TSA officers are paid during government shutdowns.

NEW YORK — The Transportation Security Administration said Sunday that its PreCheck program would remain operational despite an earlier announcement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the airport security service was being suspended during the partial government shutdown.

“As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case by case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the agency said.

It was not immediately clear whether Global Entry, another airport service, would be affected. PreCheck and Global Entry are designed to help speed registered travelers through security lines, and suspensions would likely cause headaches and delays. Since starting in 2013, more than 20 million Americans are signed up for TSA PreCheck, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and millions of those Americans also have overlapping Global Entry memberships. Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to use expedited kiosks when entering the United States from abroad.

The turmoil is tied to a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are core to President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.

The security disruptions come at a time where a major winter storm will hit the East Coast from Sunday into Monday. Nine out of ten flights going out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan Airport have been cancelled for Monday.

Homeland Security previously said it was taking “emergency measures to preserve limited funds.” Among the steps listed were “ending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck lanes and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service, to refocus Department personnel on the majority of travelers.”

“We are glad that DHS has decided to keep PreCheck operational and avoid a crisis of its own making,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

Before announcing the PreCheck shutdown, Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement Saturday night that “shutdowns have serious real world consequences.”

One group of fliers will definitely be affected, according to TSA.

“Courtesy escorts, such as those for Members of Congress, have been suspended to allow officers to focus on the mission of securing America’s skies,” the agency said.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing major carriers, said Saturday night that “it¶¶Òőap past time for Congress to get to the table and get a deal done.” It also criticized the announcement by saying it was “issued with extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly.”

“A4A is deeply concerned that TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs are being suspended and that the traveling public will be, once again, used as a political football amid another government shutdown,” the organization said.

Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security criticized Homeland Security handling of airport security after the initial announcement on Saturday night. They accused the administration of “kneecapping the programs that make travel smoother and secure.”

Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said Noem’s actions are part of an administration strategy to distract from other issues and shift responsibility.

“This administration is trying to weaponize our government, trying to make things intentionally more difficult for the American people as a political leverage,” he told CNN on Sunday. “And the American people see that.”

As the videos play, my chest tightens with shock, fear, and indignation. This is not the first, second, or third time I’ve witnessed someone’s death on my phone.

Brutality at the hands of ICE agents is all too common, completely normalized, and people are dead as a result. These aren’t isolated incidents: this is the predictable outcome of a system built for force and funded to grow at all costs.

I was a college freshman at Yale when America was engulfed in fear and panic after the unspeakably horrific terror attacks of 9/11. My mom was worried because I  was just a short drive from New York City. Fellow freshmen spent hours frantically trying to reach their loved ones in Manhattan, but phone service was down, and almost no one had cell phones. The terror was palpable.

After 9/11, fear metastasized into a new, massive federal agency: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Its mission was to “protect the homeland,” and in service of that mission, DHS normalized the idea that some communities — Muslims, noncitizens, or anyone who dissented — should live under permanent suspicion in order to prove their Americanness.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was formed inside that new DHS bureaucracy, and from the beginning, it pursued a vision that was neither modest nor targeted. Their 2003 strategic plan, “Operation Endgame,” treated deportation as the golden measure of success, pushing the agency toward maximum enforcement and maximum churn.

When your job is numbers, every person becomes a statistic and a justification in pursuit of their end goal. No matter their pending immigration application, their U.S. citizen children, their ties to their community, or their payment of taxes, for a noncitizen, any contact with law enforcement – even for a traffic offense – results in being labeled as a “criminal alien.”

The fear-driven othering feeds the deportation machine.

Over the ensuing two decades, both Democrats and Republicans served as willing cheerleaders, giving ICE ever-more resources for immigration enforcement, detention, and surveillance. Immigration detention funding ballooned more than 400% , according to a budget analysis done by The Forum.

The GEO Group pioneered for-profit immigration detention in Aurora in 1987, and in December 2025, ICE awarded GEO a no-bid contract to open a second facility in Hudson.

Corporations like Flock and Palantir, which contract with governments to provide surveillance for immigration enforcement, now also celebrate their record profits. While justifying ICE’s endlessly-expanding budgets, politicians from both parties routinely claim that those resources prioritize immigrants with criminal histories, and that as long as you are a law-abiding, “good” American, you have nothing to fear. The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti tell us otherwise.

It simply doesn’t have to be this way. ICE is escalating its cynical politics of cruelty and fearmongering, pitting Americans against each other and lying to the public to justify billions in annual immigration-enforcement spending. Stopping this madness will take everyday Coloradans speaking up and pressuring elected officials to change course.

Now’s an important time to remember that the Constitution protects us all, regardless of immigration status. Download a Know Your Rights card, and add the Colorado Rapid Response Network’s phone number (1-844-864-8341) into your phone in case you witness ICE activity.

This session, the Colorado legislature will consider Aurora Sen. Mike Weissman and my bill, Senate Bill 5, to ensure civil remedies are available to Coloradans when their constitutional rights are trampled upon by immigration enforcement entities.

Congress is now contemplating giving ICE even more funding in a cynical ploy to avoid another government shutdown. The Colorado Congressional delegations’ votes fell along party lines, and both of Colorado’s senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, have indicated their intentions to vote no. However, a “no” vote on giving ICE a blank check is not enough.

This moment requires leaders with backbone who will not sell out Americans’ freedom, and instead advance actual solutions. Congress must extract the profit motive from immigration detention and surveillance, restore due process to the immigration system, create pathways to citizenship, pass strict standards on the use-of-force, and ensure that immigrants have access to legal counsel.

This rogue agency has no legitimacy left; the only answer that remains is to abolish ICE, and instead build an immigration system worthy of a nation that claims to believe in justice, dignity, and the rule of law.

Colorado state Sen. Julie Gonzales is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and currently represents north, west, and downtown Denver in the Colorado General Assembly.

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