The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Sunday that the Global Entry program would be shut down as long as the partial government shutdown remains in effect.
The announcement comes after the department said Saturday night that it planned to shut down both Global Entry and the Transportation Security Administration's PreCheck program as well, but DHS cancelled the PreCheck closure.
“As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the agency said.
The turmoil at security and customs lanes is tied to a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach a deal on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats have been demanding changes to immigration operations that are core to President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The security disruptions come at a time where a major winter storm will hit the East Coast from Sunday into Monday. Nine out of 10 flights going out of John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Boston Logan Airport have been canceled for Monday. -- 📺 Watch NTD News 24/7 on cable, broadcast, and streaming: https://www.ntd.com/watch
The Department of Homeland Security shutdown enters its second week. The TSA now says the
Global Entry Program for International Travelers has been suspended to do staffing concerns.
This, while heavy winter storms cancel thousands of flights.
NTD correspondent Jason Blair has more.
Everybody here at our airports that works for TSA is not getting paid,
but they're still showing up to work.
The TSA announces that the Global Entry Rapid Security Screening Program is temporarily
suspended while the Department of Homeland Security copes with the shutdown.
The program's suspension is expected to continue until Congress reaches a funding
agreement for the DHS. The TSA says that the PreCheck program will remain open.
Both programs allow expedited airport security screenings for low-risk travelers who have been
vetted. TSA PreCheck has about 20 million active users. Global Entry serves Americans returning
from overseas as well as foreign travelers entering the U.S. from 40 partner countries.
The TSA says that the situation could change as, quote, staffing constraints arise. The TSA
administrator told Congress earlier this month that unscheduled absences would be a concern
based on the previous government shutdown.
What we did see was an increase in unscheduled absences, which means
folks calling out because they could not afford to show up to work. And what we have to do in
those instances is to start kind of consolidating and collapsing some of our operations,
which means that not all of our lanes are open, and that does lead to longer wait times.
And this comes as many flights have been canceled or delayed due to weather conditions.
A large winter storm hitting the mid-Atlantic and northeast on Monday has forced thousands
of flights to be grounded. Flight Tracking Service FlightAware says over 10,000 flights
have been canceled through Tuesday and 15,000 delays have been reported on Monday.
Some cancellations started on Saturday in anticipation of the storm.
Airports in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and here in the Washington, D.C.
area have been affected the most. Reporting from Reagan National Airport, Jason Blair, Entity News.
