Sea-Tac manages government shutdown turbulence with normal wait times and no ICE

No ICE agents have been assigned to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport yet, following President Donald Trump’s orders to send immigration agents to several U.S. airports to fill in for TSA agents during the ongoing partial government shutdown.

Passenger Sharon Feucht was at Sea-Tac Monday, planning to fly to France.

She arrived early for TSA, but not just to avoid the lines. 

“We dropped off some gift cards for the TSA employees,” Feucht said. “I felt like we could help them a little bit… since they’re not getting paid at this time.”

Approximately 50,000 TSA agents are working without pay for the sixth week, since a partial government shutdown in early February caused a lapse in funding for certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security.

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Feucht dropped off grocery gift cards at the airport’s conference center. The Seattle airport has two two donation bins in the conference center where people can leave non-perishable food items.

Sea-Tac Airport spokesperson Perry Copper said the response from the community, and airport tenants have been heartfelt. 

“The thing that’s the hardest for them right now to get here, with the increase of gas prices is to get enough money to fill up their cars," Cooper said.

Wait times at the airport have been holding steady at 15 minutes.

Cooper said Sea-Tac has hired extra help for non-security duties like directing passengers to keep the lines moving for the last several years. 

“Trying to tell people to take things out of your pockets or make sure you’ve got water out," he said. "Sending people to different lines when they know that one’s shorter, those kinds of things.”

Cooper says it also helps that a new checkpoint has been added last year.