How long can someone keep showing up to work without a paycheck as bills pile up and credit cards max out? In Durango, Transportation Security Administration agents are beginning to find out.
If paychecks authorized under President Donald Trump’s executive action arrive Monday as promised, the lapse will have stretched to about five weeks. But the damage is already done.
More than a month into the shutdown, morale is deteriorating, debt is mounting and bills are going unpaid, said Angela Grana, a TSA officer at Durango-La Plata County Airport and regional vice president of AFGE Local 1127.
The partial shutdown, approaching its sixth week, has halted Department of Homeland Security operations deemed nonessential, while TSA officers are still required to report to work as essential personnel. It is the second record-length shutdown in six months during which they have been forced to work without pay.
The president signed an executive order designating emergency funds to pay TSA employees on Friday after a similar measure stalled in Congress. But just days before, some said they had already neared the breaking point.
“We’re not holding up,” Grana said. “We’re wanting to commit suicide. We’re sleeping in our cars. We’re not feeding our families. We’re not going to have Easter. It’s so wrong what’s happening.”
For help
Help for people having suicidal thoughts or for those who fear a person is considering suicide:
Axis Care Hotline:
24/7 local response to your crisis & behavioral health needs: 247-5245
NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE:
988
RED NACIONAL DE PREVENCIÓN DEL SUICIDIO:
988
FORT LEWIS COLLEGE COUNSELING CENTER:
247-7212
BOYS TOWN HOTLINE:
(800) 448-3000.
SAFE2TELL COLORADO:
(877) 542-7233 or safe2tell.org
COLORADO CRISIS SUPPORT LINE:
(844) 493-8255 or text “TALK” to 38255 or online at coloradocrisisservices.org to access a live chat available in 17 languages. The line has mental-health professionals available to talk to adults or youths 24 hours a day.
AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION:
Colorado chapter information available at afsp.org/chapter/afsp-colorado/
FOR MEN:
A website for adult men contemplating suicide is available at mantherapy.org
As critical airport security personnel hit the bottom of their bank accounts, Congress remains deadlocked. At the center of the impasse is funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with Democrats and Republicans at odds over its scope and policies.
Democrats have refused to support additional funding for ICE without significant reforms, including stricter warrant requirements and limits on agents wearing masks. Republicans, meanwhile, stand by the escalating immigration enforcement campaign that has become a cornerstone of Trump’s domestic policy.
While the Senate finally reached a deal early Friday and passed the bill, House Republicans rejected it over the absence of any funding for ICE and Border Patrol. Shortly after the newest impasse, Trump signed the emergency order to pay TSA agents until a permanent agreement can be reached.
But even if paychecks are released or a compromise is reached, it won’t immediately ease the financial stress on federal transportation employees, Grana said.
Many already live paycheck to paycheck, so any late fees or interest from missed payments will create lasting financial challenges that back pay won’t cover, she said.
As the standoff continues on Capitol Hill, the politics driving the shutdown feel far removed from the reality facing Durango TSA officers, Grana said.
TSA agents earn an average of $46,000 to $55,000 annually. In La Plata County, where the cost of living is more than 10% higher than the national average, that income stretches thin even in normal times.
Grana said the financial strain has already forced difficult choices. One co-worker recently sold her car to pay bills. Another worries about going home to his family, saying the shutdown has undermined his ability to provide.
If paychecks do not start arriving as promised in the next week, she said losing local officers could become a serious concern.
“We’re going to lose experienced employees,” she said.
Agent absences have reached more than 40% at some airports nationwide since the shutdown began. While Durango has not yet seen that level of disruption, it could become a concern if the stalemate continues, said Tony Vicari, aviation director for Durango-La Plata County Airport.
The airport employs 20 to 25 full- and part-time TSA employees, he said.
While wait times and operations have largely been unaffected, morale has suffered.
“I don’t think anyone can work for an extended period of time without compensation and come out of that with particularly high morale,” Vicari said.
In recent weeks, the airport has worked to support TSA officers by soliciting community donations and providing meals and supplies.
“The community has really come through,” Vicari said.
Efforts to ease staffing shortages at larger airports have included directing ICE agents to assist at security checkpoints. It’s a move critics say is impractical because those agents are not trained to perform TSA screening functions.
Grana is not impressed. Working alongside other agencies is not a problem, she said. But ICE agents have been getting paid throughout the entire shutdown.
“How are we not as important as they are?” she said.
The TSA union has unsuccessfully tried to pass laws to ensure officers are paid during shutdowns.
“Hopefully the nightmare ends soon,” Grana said Thursday as lawmakers entered another vote under the House majority leader’s threat to delay the Easter recess until an agreement could be reached.
Residents interested in donating nonperishable food, personal products and infant supplies to Durango’s TSA food pantry can drop off goods inside the main terminal entrance.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
