Air travelers at airports across the U.S., including here in South Florida, are facing long security lines as the partial government shutdown remains unresolved, and this comes as the Trump administration announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would help with security screenings.
Long lines greeted passengers at Miami International Airport (MIA) early Monday morning, with some of them stretching the equivalent of a city block snaking through the airport.
“I’m a little overwhelmed,” Holly Schmidt said. “We have a team going to Cuba, and we don’t know if we’re going to make it.”
Tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents aren’t getting paid amid the shutdown, with many of them calling out while hundreds of others quit.
President Donald Trump announced that ICE agents would be stationed at hotspot airports across the U.S. to help with the shortages.
“Our ignorant government. There is a solution,” a woman named Brenda said. “They just have to agree to disagree.”
CBS News Miami crews did spot ICE agents at MIA on Monday morning. But so far, MIA airport officials told CBS News Miami that they have not been contacted by ICE or the TSA about stationing the agents there.
The TSA union slammed the idea, saying “TSA officers deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
Passengers with flights at South Florida airports, like MIA or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, are urged to get to the airport early to ensure there’s enough time to get through the long security lines.