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(Second column, 14th story, link)
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A day after Republicans offered to remove money for ICE enforcement from a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, Democrats insisted that the deal must include curbs on federal agents.
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Pentagon Reports as Many as 3,000 U.S. Troops Set to Be Deployed to the Middle East, Iran Continues to Launch Retaliatory Strikes Against Gulf Countries, Philippines Declares National Energy Emergency Due to U.S.-Israeli War on Iran, Lebanon Expels Iranian Ambassador from the Country, Russia Launches Nearly 1,000 Drones at Ukraine, NYT: TSA Shared Personal Info with ICE Before Arrests at San Francisco Airport, CNN: Concerns Raised About Safety at LaGuardia Airport Before Deadly Runway Crash, New Mexico Jury Orders Meta to Pay $375 Million for Harming Children's Mental Health and Safety, Eight Architecture and Cultural Organizations Sue Trump and Kennedy Center Board over Renovations, Democrat Flips Florida State House Seat in District That Includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home, Minnesota Officials Sue Trump Admin over Renee Good and Alex Pretti Investigations, Thousands March in Argentina to Mark 50 Years Since U.S.-Backed Military Coup in 1976
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The partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security has caused major staffing shortages within the Transportation Security Administration, an agency under DHS that handles airport security procedures created in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. TSA officers have not been paid for over a month, leading to hundreds of resignations and leaves of absence. As airports are hit with significant delays, Cameron Cochems, the vice president of a union representing thousands of fellow TSA workers, urges travelers to use their time waiting to call their elected representatives "to fund the TSA so we can get our paychecks and we can get back to work."
To fill staffing shortages, DHS has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. airports. This comes as ICE is under fire for a hiring surge with minimal vetting and training for new officers. "It really feels like they're a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. Our officers, they're not getting paid, and having people that come in that are getting paid just feels like an insult," says Cochems, who adds that the ultimate goal of the Republican Party is to eliminate union protections and privatize the TSA.
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