‘We’ve got to have accountability’: Sen. Murray says ICE reform is needed before DHS funding passes

Senate Democrats tried to break the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown by funding the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Coast Guard, but not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Washington Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray wants reforms within ICE before the agency gets funding.

“We have got to have accountability. We’ve got to. Americans’ rights are at stake, and as we have seen, their lives are at stake,” Murray said.

Alabama Republican U.S. Senator Katie Britt said Democrats are playing politics with people’s lives. Britt and her GOP colleagues blocked Murray’s effort.

“We will not go backwards to defund the police. We will not go backwards to the failed border policies of the Biden administration. We’re not doing it,” Britt said.

The DHS shutdown is now in its fourth week, meaning employees have been without pay for a month.

TSA officers still recovering

The longer TSA officers have to work without pay during the partial shutdown, the more likely it is that some will miss work as they take on second jobs to pay for necessities like gas, child care, and their other bills. Many may still be rebuilding finances after the 43-day shutdown last fall, the longest in history.

Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the TSA union’s bargaining unit, said workers will miss their first full paychecks this weekend since the shutdown began Feb. 14. He said morale among the workforce “has taken a severe hit.”

“Over the last 15 months, TSA officers have went through three government shutdowns,” he told The Associated Press.

Jones, who also works as a TSA agent, said it took months for him to financially recover from the 43-day shutdown.

“I refilled my water buckets, and now I’m starting to empty them again. Some people were not so fortunate to be able to refill their water buckets,” he said.

Immigration drives funding dispute

This current shutdown has only affected the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats in Congress refused to fund the department because they objected to its immigration enforcement tactics. Democratic lawmakers have said DHS won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.

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

“This chaos is a direct result of Democrats and their refusal to fund DHS. These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay,” said Lauren Bis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Homeland Security. “These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages.”

Chris Sununu, president and CEO of the Airlines for America trade group, reiterated his plea for Congress to end the shutdown.

“More than 2.7 million people cleared through TSA yesterday, but too many had to wait in extraordinarily long—and painfully slow—lines at checkpoints,” Sununu said in a written statement Monday. “It’s unacceptable to have wait times of 2 or 3 hours. And it’s unacceptable that TSA officers will have $0 in their paychecks this week.”

But Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee rejected the notion that they were to blame for TSA officers going unpaid.

“FACTS: Democrats introduced a clean bill to fully fund TSA with no conditions. Republicans blocked it,” the Homeland Democrats group said on X. “Republicans would rather disrupt our travel than rein in ICE. It’s shameful.”

Security delays seem to ease

The country’s longest security lines have been reported at the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, with wait times topping three hours. Video from New Orleans on Sunday showed the security line stretching out of the terminal and across a parking garage as the wait there peaked at 77 minutes.

The lines at both those airports had eased by Monday afternoon, but Hobby airport was still reporting a two-hour wait for security and officials were urging travelers to get to the airport at least three or four hours ahead of their flights. The wait time in New Orleans was reported at 10 minutes in the late afternoon.

But more problems could pop up if a security shift is short on screeners when it’s busy.

Neither the Houston airport authority nor TSA would answer questions Monday about why Hobby airport is so prone to long delays during the shutdown. Hobby is smaller than George Bush Intercontinental Airport, which handles roughly three-quarters of all the passengers passing through Houston. But Hobby still handled nearly 15 million passengers in 2024.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Frank Lenzi, KIRO Newsradio