Nonprofits, unions and airports rally to feed TSA officers as shutdown drags

ACROSS the country, collections are popping up to help Transportation Security Administration officers who have been without full pay for more than a month due to the partial government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security.

- GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA, THALIA BEATY & JAMES POLLARD

The charity World Central Kitchen, more accustomed to feeding those in war zones and disaster areas, started providing meals to Washington, D.C.-area airports after many TSA officers missed their first full paycheck. On Thursday, Feeding San Diego began distributing 400 boxes with pasta, beans and peanut butter as well as fresh produce like strawberries and potatoes to affected agents near the airport after a request from TSA and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

Nonprofits are stepping in to help and coordinating closely with airports and local TSA offices because ethics rules around giving gifts to federal employees make it difficult for those affected by the shutdown to receive help directly.

Carissa Casares from Feeding San Diego said communicating with the airport means they can better tailor their resources and response to TSA workers’ needs.

“We need to work directly with the people who have direct access to these employees and get this food to them at a time and location that is most convenient to them,” Casares said.

Saturday marks the 36th day that the Department of Homeland Security has been shut down after Democrats refused to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without changes to their operations after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.

More than 120,000 DHS employees are working without pay, including roughly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration officers as negotiations between lawmakers and the White House on limits to immigration enforcement drag on.