TSA employees have been working without pay during a partial shutdown of DHS over demands to reform immigration enforcement.

TSA employees have been working without pay during a partial shutdown of DHS over demands to reform immigration enforcement.

More than 400 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit since a partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14 left them working without pay, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Funding was shut off to DHS over demands by Democrats for reforms at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection following alleged abuses and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.

There has also been a national callout rate of 10% at TSA on more than half the days of the last week, Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said Saturday in response to questions.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
    61·
    2 days ago

    I don’t believe that for a second. If there were regular airline hijackings before 9/11 we would have had that security already. TSA is there to invade people’s privacy and be a jobs program, nothing more.

    This data lumps all aircraft together, and across the entire world. It’s a bogus source to support your claim.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
      47·
      2 days ago

      “Don’t bother me with facts, my mind is made up.”

      If there were regular airline hijackings before 9/11 we would have had that security already.

      Despite a mountain of evidence, easily available with a Google search, you just blurt out one of the stupidest arguments I’ve ever heard.

      Are you actually telling me that there were no hijackings before 9/11, and that any reports of hijackings are fabrications? Because that’s an incredibly ignorant statement.

      First of all, there WAS baggage inspections before 9/11, and people complained about it all the time. The videos of the 9/11 hijackers on that day ALL come from security cameras trained on the X-ray machines, and you can see plenty of people around them. It looks essentially the same as it does today. The security just wasn’t as strong as it is now.

      Pre-9/11, security was handled by private security companies, different ones in every airport in every city, and standards were inconsistent. Post 9/11, the government formed TSA to maintain consistent airport security around the country, and a few private security companies probably went out of business. Also, stricter training and protocols were implemented, and have evolved due to emerging threats like shoe bombs, underwear bombs, and water bottle bombs.

      Now let’s get into your primary assertion, which was that weren’t any hijackings before 9/11. According to Wikipedia:

      Between 1958 and 1967, there were approximately 40 hijackings worldwide

      According to the FAA, in the 1960s, there were 100 attempts of hijackings involving U.S. aircraft: 77 successful and 23 unsuccessful.

      In a five-year period (1968–1972) the world experienced 326 hijack attempts, or one every 5.6 days

      Between 1978 and 1988, there were roughly 26 incidents of hijackings a year.

      During the 1990s, there was relative peace in the United States airspace as the threat of domestic hijacking was seen as a distant memory. Globally, however, hijackings still persisted. Between 1993 and 2003, the highest number of hijackings occurred in 1993

      Then we had 9/11, the first time in history that an airplane had been used as a weapon of mass destruction.

      So go ahead, Junior, and talk out your ass again how there wasn’t any hijackings or airport security before 9/11.