The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suspended the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry airport security programs that give approved participants a fast-track through bag check and passport control, as a partial government shutdown continued.
The popular government programs at US airports accelerate security lines and make travel slicker for all. The suspension from early Sunday was destined to cause headaches for passengers – combined in the north-east with an incoming blizzard.
The homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, said in a statement that “shutdowns have serious real world consequences”. She said also that “TSA and [Customs and Border Protection] CBP are prioritizing the general traveling population at our airports and ports of entry and suspending courtesy and special privilege escorts”.
TSA’s PreCheck program allows approved passengers through a faster security lane at US airports and is designed to reduce wait times. Global Entry expedites US customs and immigration clearance for pre-approved, low-risk international travelers entering the US.
Some US airlines were critical of DHS for giving travelers scant warning of the temporary suspension.
“Airlines for America is deeply concerned that … the traveling public will be, once again, used as a political football amid another government shutdown,” said the chief executive for the trade association, Chris Sununu, the former Republican governor of New Hampshire.
News of the suspensions came at “extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly,” he added, urging Congress to “get a deal done”.
A similar shutdown last year caused losses of more than $6bn across the travel industry and related sectors, he said.
The partial government shutdown began on 14 February after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund DHS. Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are core to Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation campaign.
The department was given an enormous funding windfall in legislation last year but its key enforcement agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol, have created a storm of controversy as they have cracked down violently on enforcement and protests in several Democratic-run cities over the last year. This culminated most dramatically in two US citizens who were protesting an especially intense crackdown in Minneapolis last month being shot dead, with Trump administration leaders quickly heaping criticism on the victims while defending the federal officers.
Those killings not only prompted a national backlash and a partial retreat by the White House, it drove Democrats to lead a block on funding for DHS pending reform, leading to the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Democrats on the House committee on homeland security have criticized the decision about airport security.
They said on social media the administration was “kneecapping the programs that make travel smoother and secure” and accused them of “ruining your travel on purpose”.
With Associated Press and Reuters
