For Immediate Release

Macías Calls Out Republican Refusal to Pay Frontline Security Workers as a Threat to Public Safety

Chicago, IL — Today, Mayra Macías, independent candidate for Illinois’s 4th Congressional District, denounced the administration’s deployment of hundreds of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to major U.S. airports as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown enters its sixth week. Macías called it a distraction from the urgent safety needs of Chicago travelers and airport workers. The deployment follows a weekend of stalled negotiations where Congressional Republicans once again blocked legislation to pay more than 50,000 TSA agents who have been working without a paycheck since February.

With travelers facing hours-long wait times and security personnel shortages at hubs across the country, Mayra Macías issued the following statement condemning the use of federal agencies for political intimidation:

What we are seeing at our airports is a stunt, not security. Once again, we are witnessing the weaponization of our government against the people it is meant to serve. This is a transparent political ploy designed to manufacture fear within our communities, not to actually protect the American people.

While Republicans are busy orchestrating these displays of intimidation, they refuse to pass a bill to pay our TSA agents. By withholding pay from the frontline workers who actually keep our airports secure, they are the ones actively jeopardizing public safety. It’s time to stop using our federal agencies as props and start doing the job of governing.