Nonprofits, unions and airports feed TSA officers as shutdown drags

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Nonprofits, unions and airports across the country have stepped up food aid for Transportation Security Administration officers affected by the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which has left many workers without full pay for more than a month, the Associated Press reported. The support campaigns, described as collections that “are popping up” at airports, also reflect the complications created by federal ethics rules about accepting gifts while performing screening duties.

World Central Kitchen, a charity known for providing meals in war zones and disaster areas, started providing meals to Washington, D.C.-area airports after TSA officers there missed their first full paycheck. In San Diego, Feeding San Diego began distributing help to affected TSA agents near the airport after a request from TSA and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, according to the report.

Feeding San Diego said on Thursday it distributed 400 boxes containing items such as pasta, beans and peanut butter, along with fresh produce including strawberries and potatoes. Carissa Casares of Feeding San Diego said coordinating with the airport helps the charity tailor its resources and response to TSA workers’ needs, adding that the effort has to reach the people who have direct access to officers.

The Associated Press said charities and unions are coordinating closely with airports and local TSA offices because ethics rules make it difficult for those affected by the shutdown to receive help directly. In Washington, the support mirrored the same pattern: organizations worked through airport channels rather than handing gifts directly to officers at screening locations.

The story also described the government shutdown’s wider scope. Saturday marked the 36th day that DHS had been shut down after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations after killings in Minneapolis. The report said more than 120,000 DHS employees are working without pay, including roughly 50,000 TSA officers, as negotiations between lawmakers and the White House on limits to immigration enforcement drag on.

For people trying to help directly, the Associated Press reported that it is not as simple as giving cash or gift cards to TSA officers, who are prohibited from accepting gifts at screening locations, according to a DHS spokesperson. But Aaron Barker, president of the AFGE Local 554 in Georgia, told the Associated Press that TSA officer unions do not face the same restrictions and can accept donations that unions then distribute to members.

Barker said some union members cannot cover utility bills or pay for their children’s medical procedures and have received eviction notices or had cars repossessed, the report said. He also described how basic household items—such as toothpaste, bathroom tissue, milk and detergent—can become unaffordable, and he said the most immediate need is an end to the shutdown and the return of pay.

In St. Louis, Operation Food Search said it worked with TSA to safely deliver food and set up a temporary pantry at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The nonprofit’s CEO, Kristen Wild, said it was the first time Operation Food Search distributed directly to TSA employees where they work and that it removed the need for officers to make an extra trip and drive to receive food.

Operation Food Search gave away just over half of 400 prepared food bags during a two-hour distribution earlier in the week, Wild said. The Associated Press reported that each bag contained just under $20 worth of nonperishables such as apple sauce, pasta, rice and beans, and that the rules prohibit federal employees from soliciting or accepting gifts or items of monetary value greater than $20 if the gift is related to their government position.

In Seattle, airport officials told the Associated Press that they were fielding donations from organizations including PETA and receiving food bank pallets to restock a private pantry for off-shift TSA staff. The airport also saw dining vendors—businesses normally tasked with feeding travelers—step up with discounts and meals paid for through TSA, with airport spokesperson Perry Cooper saying the community’s support reflects the fact that people “see faces” and feel the effect when workers are not being paid.

Cooper said Seattle-Tacoma received roughly $6,000 in cash and gift cards plus another $10,000 worth of food and household products, including donations from the labor union for air traffic controllers. More than 460 people picked up fresh produce when Food Lifeline brought a truckload last Friday, the report said, and the Associated Press reported that most of attendees were TSA staff.

Regular travelers also contributed to the idea of everyday sympathy around airport security work. Musie Hidad, an Amarillo, Texas, resident traveling to Columbus, Ohio, told the Associated Press that he thinks about TSA agents working without pay each time he enters through security, adding that his heart goes out to them.