Border Patrol

April 14 (UPI) — A budget resolution to fund federal immigration enforcement could hit the Senate floor by next week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday, as Republicans seek to bypass Democratic demands for reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

Federal funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol lapsed on Feb. 14 after Republicans agreed with the Democrats to remove the Department of Homeland Security from a larger spending package and avert a government shutdown.

Neither agency has been funded through regular DHS appropriations since, though they continue operating through other, emergency funding.

Democrats began demanding reforms to the federal immigration enforcement agencies before agreeing to restore funding after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal immigration officers amid President Donald Trump‘s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Amid a stalemate in negotiations, Republicans are considering passing three years of funding for the agencies through a complicated legislative mechanism called a budget reconciliation bill that permits certain spending legislation to pass with a simple majority rather than 60 votes, Thune told reporters Tuesday in the Capitol.

“Republicans are going to stand with our Border Patrol, with our law enforcement agencies and we’re going to ensure that they are funded, not only today but well into the future,” Thune, R-S.D., said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is preparing the resolution to fund the agencies that will be followed by the reconciliation bill “to ensure the job gets done,” he said.

Democrats have blocked funding for ICE and Border Patrol until reforms — including requiring judicial warrants and banning officers from wearing masks — are made, but the reconciliation bill tactic could ensure funding without any votes from Democratic lawmakers.

The same tactic was used last year to pass Trump’s sweeping spending and tax cut bill, which provided $75 billion for ICE.

“All of the things that the Democrats made this about, which was supposed to be about reforms to the way that ICE and Border Patrol operate — they get none of that,” Thune said.

“And now, we’re going to fund those agencies for three years into the future. The only thing the Democrats got out of this was they now own the issue of open borders and defund law enforcement.”

Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, with two independents caucusing with the Democrats, as well as a 218-213 majority in the House.

The Senate has twice passed bipartisan bills to fund DHS aside from ICE and Border Patrol, which the House has balked at. Democrats blame the Trump administration’s influence on the lower chamber.

“Republicans are dragging the Senate through a partisan circus just to avoid basic accountability for ICE and Border Patrol,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters at the Capitol during a separate press conference on Tuesday.

He said Democrats will continue to push for immigration enforcement reforms.

“So, the pattern, unfortunately, with this administration is clearer and clearer,” the veteran New York Democrat said. “Chaos abroad — the war; chaos at home with not funding DHS with reforms. A failed war overseas, a manufactured crisis here in Washington — in both cases Republicans aren’t leading, they are following orders.”

March 30 (UPI) — Some employees of the Transportation Security Administration started getting back pay that they’re owed for the partial government shutdown Monday, easing long lines at airports.

“Most TSA employees received a retroactive paycheck today that included at least two full paychecks covering pay periods 4 and 5 today,” Department of Homeland Security Acting Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis told USA Today on Monday. “A small population might see a slight delay due to a variety of reasons, including financial institution processing times or issues with their direct deposit. We are working aggressively with USDA’s National Finance Center to complete processing for the half paycheck they are owed from pay period 3 as soon as possible.”

“Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out,” Bis added.

The funding lapse has lasted since Feb. 14, causing extreme delays at airports because some TSA workers quit or called out sick.

Democrats have refused to vote for any package that doesn’t rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. On Friday, the Senate voted unanimously to pass a measure that would fund Homeland Security but not ICE and Border Patrol. But the House rejected it, saying it wouldn’t pass it if ICE isn’t included.

In response, President Donald Trump ordered that TSA workers get paid through other Homeland Security funding. That pay is temporary. Congress began a two-week recess on Friday. They return April 14.

Angela Grana, regional vice president of the union that represents TSA workers at 38 airports in the Rockies, told USA Today that she got paid for working 200 hours. She said the overtime and holiday hours she worked didn’t appear to have been counted properly, and that she believed she was taxed at a higher rate than usual because of the lump-sum payment.

“This is all back pay. That doesn’t tell me I’m going to get paid in the future,” she said.

By late Monday morning, TSA lines were down to less than 30 minutes at most major airports, CNN reported.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston had 75-minute security lines before dawn Monday. Hours later, that number dropped to as low as 9 minutes.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Monday, travelers waited 3 minutes.

About 500 workers, or about 0.82% of total personnel of 61,000, have quit since the partial shutdown began.

Atlanta TSA officer Aaron Barker told CNN he believes the number of agents will keep dropping.

“I do think that there’s going to be a mass exodus of officers,” Barker, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 554, told CNN.

“Officers have gone into debt. Credit has been shot,” he said. “Officers have been evicted. Cars have been repossessed.”

“Back pay is not going to address [the] systemic issues,” he said. In the past five months, “We have been shut down 50% of the time.”

“This is a natural disaster that was caused by Congress,” said Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA workers.

“The vast majority are devastated,” he said. “My colleagues, they’re like, ‘Our finances are ruined.'”