The suspension disrupted travelers accustomed to five-minute customs passages, who now faced regular lines stretching to 30 minutes or longer—a political maneuver tied to President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign.
The Department of Homeland Security suspended the Global Entry program on Sunday as a partial government shutdown that began Feb. 14 entered its second week. The agency initially announced suspension of both Global Entry and TSA PreCheck but reversed the PreCheck closure hours later, keeping the security-line program operational. Global Entry, which allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to use expedited kiosks when entering the United States from abroad, is used by millions of Americans.
What Global Entry Does
Global Entry significantly speeds up customs processing. According to travel industry estimates, the program cuts waiting time in customs lines from 30 to 90 minutes down to 5 to 10 minutes. The Department of Homeland Security said in 2024 that more than 20 million Americans had TSA PreCheck, with millions of those having overlapping Global Entry memberships.
Travelers Face Longer Waits
The suspension disrupted those accustomed to five-minute customs passages. Blair Perkins, 39, of Dallas, experienced the change firsthand when returning from Cancun on Sunday morning to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. With Global Entry, customs typically took less than five minutes. “Sunday, it took about 30 minutes,” Perkins said.
“We went around about four or five different corners to get to the end of the U.S. line,” Perkins said. She described the disruption as frustrating. “It feels like Washington is using travelers as a pawn to try to, I guess, persuade the other side to do what they want,” she said.
TSA PreCheck, however, continued to operate without disruption. Jean Fay, 54, said she had no issues going through TSA PreCheck at Baltimore Airport for her 6 a.m. Sunday flight back to Texas. “When I landed in Austin I started getting the alerts,” she said about hearing of the shutdown.
A major winter storm hit the East Coast on Monday, adding to the travel disruptions. Nine out of 10 flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan Airport were canceled.
Why the Shutdown Happened
The partial government shutdown 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.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday night that “shutdowns have serious real world consequences.”
Industry and Congressional Response
Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, welcomed the reversal of the PreCheck suspension. “We are glad that DHS has decided to keep PreCheck operational and avoid a crisis of its own making,” Freeman said.
Airlines for America, a trade group representing major carriers, criticized the announcement for being issued with “extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly.” The group said it was “deeply concerned that TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs are being suspended and that the traveling public will be, once again, used as a political football amid another government shutdown.”
Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security criticized the handling of airport security after the initial announcement, accusing the administration of “kneecapping the programs that make travel smoother and secure.”
Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said on CNN that the suspension was part of an administration strategy to create hardship for political leverage. “This administration is trying to weaponize our government, trying to make things intentionally more difficult for the American people as a political leverage,” Kim said. “And the American people see that.”