Omar spotlights shutdown effect on airport screeners, others

MINNEAPOLIS – Air travellers in Minnesota are enduring some of the longest screening waits in the nation, and it’s caught the attention of Rep. Ilhan Omar.

The Minneapolis Democrat is highlighting those wait times as the federal government shutdown moves into its second month. She plans a news conference Tuesday from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where the average wait time Saturday stretched to 41 minutes.

Security screeners are among federal workers going without pay, and as worker absences have crept up, so have wait times.

Omar will also share stories from other federal workers as well as people receiving food assistance and people whose immigration status could be affected by proposals to end the shutdown.