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Partial government shutdown begins to affect travelers in Louisiana
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NEW ORLEANS — The partial government shutdown caused by the Senate's failure to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security has begun to affect the Transportation Security Administration.
Unlike the last shutdown, only agencies under DHS, like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and TSA will be affected. The partial shutdown comes as Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are the center of President Donald Trump's deportation campaign.
As the shutdown drags on, airport screenings in New Orleans have begun to suffer. A video sent to WBRZ shows travelers waiting in a TSA line that wraps around two levels of the airport.
The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport released a statement on Sunday that read, "Due to impacts from the federal government's partial shutdown, the TSA is experiencing a shortage of workers at the security checkpoint, which is causing longer-than-average lines."
About 95% of TSA employees are considered essential, meaning they will continue to scan passengers at commercial airports without pay. Many workers may call out or take unscheduled leave due to the lack of pay.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno took to social media to comment on the situation, saying," We've got really, really long lines at the airport, and from talking to the airport officials, it appears that this has to do with the funding bill in Congress."
Moreno went on to share that many employees called out sick due to the lack of pay, causing the long TSA lines.
"TSA agents didn't receive a paycheck, so you have a lot of the workforce that has called in sick, which is causing these huge, huge lines."
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Gov. Jeff Landry, along with 20 other governors, urged Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrats to end the government shutdown and fund the Department of Homeland Security in a letter to Schumer on Thursday.
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