House Speaker Mike Johnson has accused Democrats of deliberately prolonging a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security(DHS), creating chaos at the nation’s airports while giving illegal immigrants an opening to slip into the country unchecked.
On Tuesday, March 24, the Louisiana Republican said the Democrats’ strategy is to block paychecks for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, force Americans to wait in endless security lines, and let criminal illegal aliens “skip the line” at the border and beyond.
“It’s madness,” Johnson wrote, as the shutdown extended into its sixth week and spring break travel turned into a nightmare for millions of families.
The standoff began in mid-February after Congress failed to agree on funding for the sprawling department, which includes TSA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies.
Republicans have insisted on tying full funding to stronger immigration enforcement measures, including resources for ICE and the SAVE Act to require proof of citizenship for voting.
Democrats have been calling for a clean bill to pay TSA workers and fund non-immigration parts of DHS, while demanding reforms to ICE operations, such as stricter warrant rules and body-camera requirements.
They accuse Republicans of holding airport security hostage to advance a hard-line deportation agenda.
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Whatever the cause, the impact on travelers has been real and growing. At major hubs in Houston, New Orleans, New York, and elsewhere, security lines have stretched for hours.
Some passengers reported waits exceeding 4 hours, forcing them to arrive at airports well before dawn to avoid missing flights altogether.
About 50,000 TSA officers have been working without pay, resulting in a surge in call-outs and resignations.
More than 450 officers have quit since early February, according to officials, and thousands more stayed home on a recent busy Sunday.
Airlines and airports have pleaded with Congress for a quick resolution, warning that smaller facilities could soon shut down if staffing worsens.
Johnson and other Republicans say the pain felt by ordinary Americans is no accident. They argue Democrats are willing to let TSA crumble rather than agree to fund immigration enforcement that would crack down on illegal crossings.
“Democrats are denying the pay of roughly 120,000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security, fueling the third-longest shutdown in American history,” Johnson said in a separate statement. “They refuse to reopen TSA and FEMA unless they can reopen our borders for criminal illegal aliens.”
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President Donald Trump recently responded by ordering ICE agents to deploy to airports to help ease lines and, he said, to arrest illegal immigrants encountered there.
Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed the move, describing it as a way to support overstretched TSA workers while enforcing the law.
The democratic side calls the deployment a political stunt that mixes immigration enforcement with routine airport security.
What Democrats want Speaker Mike Johnson to do
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged Johnson to bring a standalone bill to the floor to fund the TSA, the Coast Guard, and other necessary services without touching ICE.
“All Speaker Johnson needs to do is bring the legislation to the floor that will pay TSA agents and reopen parts of DHS that have nothing to do with ICE,” Jeffries said.
Yet Republicans have blocked such piecemeal efforts, insisting the entire department must be funded together with reforms attached.
TSA families have missed paychecks, forcing some to rely on food banks or second jobs. Travelers, many of them families heading out for spring break, have relayed stories of frustration and missed connections.
At the same time, administration officials point to what they call successes at the border itself: zero illegal aliens released into the interior in recent months, hundreds of thousands of deportations, and a sharp drop in fentanyl trafficking.
Airlines have warned of wider economic damage if the chaos continues. Business groups and travel associations have joined the chorus calling for an end to the standoff.
