A Philadelphia lawmaker teamed up with a local church to give away food and resources to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers impacted by the partial government shutdown.
The giveaway took place on Wednesday, March 25, from 3 p.m. through 6 p.m. at the Church of Christian Compassion on 6121 Cedar Avenue. Rep. Amen Brown (D – Philadelphia) helped organize the event.
“I want our TSA workers, many of whom are struggling due to the federal government shutdown, to know that we see them and we have their backs,” Rep. Brown said. “That’s why I partnered with my local church to get these resources available for them.”
In addition to food, Rep. Brown and other volunteers provided information about state programs and resources that the workers could quality for.
Lashanda Palmer, a TSA officer and a union representative for workers at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Wilmington Airport, attended the event as well.
“We went to the government. Right? And you would never think that we would have to come to the line,” she said. “Just like the last shutdown. We didn’t put ourselves in a situation like this. We were put into a situation like this.”
Rep. Brown said they plan to organize similar events in the future.
“They’re there for us when we have to fly to town to support our families and friends or be there to support a neighbor. So this is us stepping up as a community,” he said.
About 50,000 TSA officers across the country are expected to receive another $0 paycheck this week. A dispute in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security has held up their salaries since mid-February. With monthly bills, many of these federal employees, who screen passengers and luggage at airports across the U.S., are making difficult choices about how to make ends meet.
High absentee rates at some major airports have produced long lines and frustrated passengers at understaffed security checkpoints. Union leaders and federal officials say empty gas tanks, child care expenses and the threat of eviction keep more screeners from showing up the longer the shutdown continues. At last count, more than 455 had quit instead of weathering the ongoing uncertainty, according to DHS.
Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to 13 airports across the country, including PHL, to help manage lines and do crowd control amid the TSA staff shortage. As noted by NBC News, ICE agents are not trained airport screeners and lack the clearance needed to work the security checkpoint.
So far this week, there haven’t been reports of overly long lines at PHL despite the closures of three security checkpoints.