Facing eviction, mounting bills, and with no paycheck in sight, a desperate Transportation Security Administration worker based at an airport in upstate New York sent an SOS to the two senators who represent his state.
“I basically asked them for help,” Anthony Riley, a 58-year-old married father of three, told NBC News on Wednesday. “This is the fourth week I’m working without pay and it’s killing me.”
Riley, who has worked for three-and-a-half years at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, said he understands that his job requires him to show up whether or not he gets paid. And he has been, he said.
“At the same time, a lot of TSA workers like me don’t have savings to fall back on,” he said. “Right now, I don’t have any money to move. I might be working homeless.”
Even more concerning, Riley said he lost his car during the first government shutdown last year because he couldn’t afford to replace the transmission. He said his 39-year-old wife, Keya, is waiting for a kidney donation.
“I don’t have a way of getting her down to Rochester if a kidney becomes available,” said Riley, who lives in Syracuse.
Riley is not alone in his desperation.
More than 300 fed-up TSA workers have quit since the start of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown last month and the number of unscheduled call-outs has more than doubled at many key airports across the country, a senior TSA official confirmed.
Most TSA workers are considered essential workers and are required to show up even when they’re not being paid. They received a half-paycheck two weeks ago but have already missed one entire paycheck since then, a TSA union official said.
DHS funding expired Feb. 13 after lawmakers locked horns over the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, much of which has been enforced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
Democrats, angered by the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis by federal agents, are seeking reforms to rein in those agencies before they approve funding. But Republicans and the White House have insisted that changes have already been made in response to the killings.
The impasse has triggered the partial shutdown of the department, which also affects the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard. The shutdown does not affect ICE or the administration’s other immigration enforcement operations.
The effects on the shutdown on the TSA led to long security lines over the weekend, with travelers at many major airports reporting up to three-hour wait times on Sunday.
Denver International Airport asked travelers Thursday to donate $10 or $20 grocery store or gas gift cards to “dedicated TSA employees working without pay.”
“Visa gift cards cannot be accepted,” the airport wrote Wednesday on X. “Drop off locations can be found at Final Approach cell phone lot and in the Jeppesen Terminal.”
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said travelers are facing missed flights and massive delays. She blamed the chaos on congressional Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS, which led to the partial shutdown.
“These political stunts force patriotic TSA officers, who protect our skies from serious threats, to work without pay,” she said in a statement Sunday. “These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier this month and now face their first full missed paycheck, leading to financial hardship, absences, and crippling staffing shortages.”
Riley said he’s a Democrat, like both New York senators, and that he supports reforming ICE. He said he was horrified by the violence that accompanied the ICE roundups of undocumented immigrants in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Chicago.
“But time is ticking and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out,” he said. “My son is 18 and my twin daughters are 16. They don’t want to move. I understand that the landlord needs to get paid, but I just don’t have it right now.”
Riley said he previously had an internship at one of Schumer’s regional offices and one of his former colleagues got back to him quickly and recommended that he look into low or no-interest “furlough loans” to tide him over.
“The problem is that my credit rating was wrecked by the last government shutdown when I was working and not getting paid,” he said.
Schumer later said in an email that his office “has been in touch with Anthony and are looking into his case and doing all we can to help him and his family.”
“Stories like his are exactly why Senate Democrats have tried multiple times this week to pass legislation fund TSA and ensure these officers are paid,” he added. “Each time, Senate Republicans blocked it.”
Adrian Lesser, a spokesperson for New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, said they too have heard from Riley and “we referred him to local legal services.”
“As always, our office is here to help government workers impacted by the partial shutdown, and we encourage them to reach out to our office,” Lesser said.
Riley said he had an eviction hearing on Monday and with the help of a Legal Aid lawyer, he was able to buy himself some more time.
“We go back on March 27 and hopefully we’ll be able to work out a rent payment plan,” he said. “But my lawyer told us to be prepared to leave in 30 days if it doesn’t work out. Right now I’m doing everything I can to keep my family from being kicked out on the street.”
