'Empty refrigerators and eviction notices': TSA union leaders demand end to DHS shutdown

Union leaders representing Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers in Atlanta called on lawmakers Monday to end the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, saying the stalemate has crippled its members financially as they continue to work without being paid. 

Aaron Barker, the president of AMG local 554, said the union's members are financially exhausted as they face a range of fiscal difficulties amid a standoff between lawmakers in Washington over DHS funding on the heels of their first missed full paycheck.

"Unlike other federal agencies such as ICE and CBP, TSA employees are working without pay," Barker said at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "Many are coping with eviction notices. Vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts."

"Every available financial option has been exhausted, yet these officers are still coming to work to protect the traveling public, facing disciplinary action if they do not show up to work," he added.

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About 300 TSA agents have quit, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday, and call-outs have doubled.

Duffy has blamed Democrats for the funding standoff, amid a debate over proposed reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which many Republicans oppose. 

DHS has been partially shut down for more than 30 days as Republicans hold out for a budget proposal that fully funds all parts of the agency. Democrats have said they're willing to fund individual branches within the department, including TSA, but not Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) until the Trump administration agrees to immigration reform.

Meanwhile, Barker said, TSA personnel are bearing the burden of the standoff. 

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"I've heard from officers who cannot afford co-payments for cancer treatments or office visits for their sick children," he said. 

"Requiring employees to work without pay is unconstitutional, and the financial consequences of this shutdown -- damaged credit, missed payments and lost housing -- will remain ever after the government reopens," he added. "This is not a partisan issue. TSA employees did not cause this shutdown, yet they are bearing the burden of congressional inaction."

A DHS spokesperson told FOX Business that 100,000 DHS workers did not receive their first full paycheck last week, amounting to $1 billion in unpaid wages each month.

"American travelers across the country are facing hours-long airport lines, that will worsen as this shutdown continues," the spokesperson said. "Democrats are shamelessly playing politics with national security, punishing hardworking TSA workers and their families."

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Barker said essential public services shouldn't be used as leverage in political disputes, especially while members of Congress continue to receive their own paychecks. He said TSA officers have resorted to finding other ways to make ends meet, such as ridesharing.

"To be quite frank, officers are pissed off. And we're not just talking about here in Atlanta," said Barker. "We're talking about nationwide. The officers are pissed off. They want this to end. They're ready to get back to…some normalcy or some consistency within their lives."

FOX Business' Max Becall contributed to this report.