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People flying to get to spring break are preparing for long lines at the airports. A partial government shutdown means Transportation Security Administration agents are not being paid, and that has led some to take second jobs or call in sick. Airlines also canceled a lot of flights this week because of severe weather forecasts. Marlon Hyde with WABE in Atlanta reports.
MARLON HYDE, BYLINE: Jamika Long (ph) was trying to get back home to Cleveland when she realized the security line at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was two hours long.
JAMIKA LONG: I had to go from all the way down there, around the corner, to all the way down there, and then do a maze all the way around there. So I just came to the acceptance, like, yeah, I ain't going to make this flight.
HYDE: She then had another long line at the counter to rebook her flight. Nearby, 18-year-old Noya Caspin (ph) is sitting on the floor with her head leaned up against the wall. She's a student at North Carolina State, heading to Mexico for spring break with friends, but then bad weather derailed their plans.
NOYA CASPIN: We were supposed to have a short layover here, and then our second flight got canceled. So now we're stuck in a new place that we don't really know.
HYDE: Her friend, Alex Scruggs (ph), says he's irritated, as the group of dejected college students had to book a hotel for the night.
ALEX SCRUGGS: Yeah, it's sad. We're missing our first night at the resort for this.
HYDE: Airlines say the stakes are high, as they expect more than 170 million passengers this spring. TSA workers have missed one full paycheck already because funding for the Department of Homeland Security is stuck in Congress. At a press conference outside Atlanta's airport, Aaron Barker, the president of the local union that represents TSA workers, said working without pay is not sustainable.
AARON BARKER: Many are coping with eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts. Every available financial option has been exhausted.
HYDE: His union wants Congress to separate funding for TSA from other Department of Homeland Security offices, including ICE. Barker says without action, staffing challenges will rise and passengers' wait times will increase. Last week, the White House said at least 300 TSA workers already resigned during the shutdown.
For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta.
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