Travelers on their way to much-anticipated Spring Break trips are being met with hours-long delays at America’s top airports.
Social media users on X complained of hours-long lines at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson on Sunday amid the chaos, in part caused by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), being both without a secretary at the helm as well as unfunded for over a month, since the February 14.
One individual reported a 153-minute wait in line at 6am in Atlanta, while another posted later on Sunday that she ‘got in line at 9:11am for a 12:45pm flight.’
As of 12:30 pm EST, the page on the Atlanta airport’s website that shows security wait times had crashed. Users trying to access the site were met with a message that ‘there has been a critical error on this website.’
Notably, some airports have been able to avoid total chaos as their security screening services are provided by contractors under the Transportation Security Administration’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which was founded in 2004.
These private contracts are pre-funded and thus not affected by the current shutdown.
The website for the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) specifically notes that ‘SFO is the largest airport participating in the TSA’s Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which allows airports to outsource screening to certified private contractors.’
SFO’s website denoted ‘normal wait times’ just after 12:00 noon EST Sunday, without providing any specific numbers.
Travelers on their way to much-anticipated Spring Break trips are being met with hours-long delays at America’s top airports
Per FlightAware, 2,122 flights going within, into, or out of the United States on Sunday morning were delayed as of 11:25 ET, with another 147 flights being cancelled.
President Donald Trump noted in a Sunday morning post on his social media site, Truth Social, that he would be sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports to help address the chaos.
‘On Monday, ICE will be going to airports to help our wonderful TSA Agents who have stayed on the job despite the fact that the Radical Left Democrats, who are only focused on protecting hard line criminals who have entered our Country illegally, are endangering the USA by holding back the money that was long ago agreed to with signed and sealed contracts, and all,’ Trump noted.
‘But watch, no matter how great a job ICE does, the Lunatics leading the incompetent Dems will be highly critical of their work. THEY WILL DO A FANTASTIC JOB. The great Tom Homan is in charge!!! President DJT,’ he added.
Homan told CNN’s State of the Union anchor Dana Bash on Sunday ‘that ICE agents receive a high level of training. And ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already. They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling at airports.’
‘You got TSA agents covering exits, people that enter through the exits. Certainly, a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit and makes sure people don’t go through those exits, entering the airport through the exits. And stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines,’ Homan added.
Homan appears to be Trump’s go-to fixer for all things DHS, as the agency does not currently have a secretary at the helm.
Trump noted in a Sunday morning post on his social media site, Truth Social, that he would be sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports to help address the chaos
Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace ousted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, appears to be days away from confirmation to lead the embattled department.
Mullin has represented Oklahoma in the United States Senate since 2023, and previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023.
Senators held a hearing to confirm Mullin to the DHS post on Wednesday, and his nomination was advanced by a committee vote on Thursday after Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senator John Fetterman, crossed party lines to support the nominee.
