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By Tami Luhby, Amanda Musa, CNN

(CNN) — One month into the partial government shutdown, hundreds of Transportation Security Administration workers going without full pay have quit, while others have taken unscheduled time off, prompting more travel headaches as a winter storm slams the Midwest and spring break travelers try to fly.

More than 300 TSA agents have quit, the Department of Homeland Security said in an X post Friday.

This weekend, TSA workers missed their first full paycheck since the partial shutdown began in mid-February after funding for DHS, which oversees TSA, lapsed amid a standoff between Republicans and Democrats over federal immigration reform.

In a letter Sunday, the CEOs of major airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest and JetBlue urged Congress to restore DHS funding and embrace a bipartisan solution to ensure federal aviation workers are paid during shutdowns.

“It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid,” the letter said.

Late last year, the longest government shutdown on record came to an end after an increasing number of air traffic controllers and TSA screeners did not show up to work. Air traffic controllers are not affected by the ongoing partial shutdown.

Double the callouts

It’s “no surprise” that hundreds of TSA employees have quit this time around, Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement to CNN on Sunday. The union represents more than 46,000 uniformed TSA workers.

“Most Americans would quit their jobs if they didn’t get a paycheck on payday,” Kelley said. Still, many officers continue to work with “care and professionalism,” he added.

Last year, approximately 1,110 officers “separated from TSA in October and November,” according to TSA data shared in February with the US House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

But the reduced staffing is not just due to workers quitting. The callout rate for unscheduled absences by frontline officers jumped to an average of 6% during the current shutdown, compared with about 2% before government funding lapsed, according to CBS News, citing TSA statistics. CNN has reached out to TSA.

Federal employees are guaranteed to receive back pay once the shutdown ends, according to a 2019 law.

Less money and a lot less help

In the last

Análisis por Brad Lendon, CNN

Mientras el presidente Donald Trump presiona a los aliados de Estados Unidos para que aporten fuerzas navales para proteger el tráfico marítimo en el estrecho de Ormuz, expertos en la materia afirman que tal iniciativa presenta un riesgo enorme que, incluso si tuviera éxito, podría restablecer solo alrededor del 10 % del tráfico anterior a la guerra a través de la vía marítima.

El tráfico comercial a través de este punto estratégico marítimo prácticamente ha cesado desde que Estados Unidos e Israel atacaron a Irán el 28 de febrero, e Irán prometió atacar cualquier embarcación asociada con ambos países o sus socios.

Aproximadamente el 20 % del suministro mundial de petróleo, además de cantidades similares o incluso mayores de gas natural licuado y fertilizantes, deben pasar por el estrecho para llegar a los mercados mundiales. Su cierre ha disparado los precios de estas materias primas.

Para aliviar las presiones económicas, Trump y funcionarios del Gobierno estadounidense han anunciado planes para que la Marina de Estados Unidos escolte a buques mercantes a través del estrecho. Además, el presidente ha solicitado a aliados como Japón, Corea del Sur y miembros de la OTAN, e incluso a rivales como China, que aporten buques militares para tareas de escolta.

Hasta el momento no se han recibido ofertas de ayuda. Y los analistas navales afirman que esto refleja los riesgos que conlleva.

Las operaciones de escolta naval son complejas y requieren una estrecha coordinación de los recursos marítimos y aéreos para proteger tanto a los buques cisterna y mercantes como a los propios buques de guerra.

Lograr que todo eso funcione en conjunto en lo que un analista denominó el “valle de la muerte” del estrecho de Ormuz es una tarea abrumadora.

Primero está el problema del espacio. El estrecho tiene apenas unos 16 kilómetros de ancho en su punto más angosto. El espacio navegable es aún menor, especialmente para los enormes petroleros, algunos de los cuales miden más de tres campos de fútbol de largo.

Eso deja poco margen de maniobra para los buques cisterna o los buques de guerra que los escoltan, dijo Jennifer Parker, investigadora adjunta de estudios navales en la UNSW Canberra y ex oficial de la Marina australiana con experiencia en el golfo Pérsico.

Los buques de guerra, probablemente destructores en el caso de la Marina de Estados Unidos, necesitan tener espacio para moverse alrededor de los gigantescos petroleros para obtener soluciones de fuego correctas sobre objetivos entrantes como drones aéreos o marítimos o misiles, dijo

En esencia, los buques cisterna podrían crear puntos ciegos para los buques de guerra.

Además, el tiempo de reacción es limitado porque las armas iraníes están muy cerca de las costas de su lado del estrecho.

“Desde el momento en que se detecta una amenaza hasta el momento en que hay que responder a ella el tiempo que transcurre es muy, muy limitado”, dijo Parker.

Los analistas afirman que la escolta no puede realizarse únicamente con destructores.

Según el analista Carl Schuster, excapitán de la Marina estadounidense, los helicópteros o aviones de ataque tendrían que sobrevolar las inmediaciones, preparados para interceptar drones aéreos o marítimos.

Según explicó, los aviones de alerta temprana y control aerotransportado y los drones de reconocimiento tendrían que rastrear zonas más interiores de Irán en busca de lanzamientos de misiles que pudieran tener como objetivo los petroleros o los buques de guerra.

Mientras tanto, las fuerzas iraníes que podrían amenazar las misiones de escolta en el estrecho están dispersas y son mayoritariamente móviles. Según los expertos, podrían desplegarse drones y misiles montados en camiones o minas desde un número incalculable de pequeñas embarcaciones pesqueras.

“¿Serán capaces de dest

Por Andy Rose, Priscila Alvarez

Todas las tardes, de lunes a viernes, decenas de niños bajan de pequeños autobuses para asistir al programa extraescolar de un estudio de danza ubicado aquí, a unos 80 kilómetros al noreste de Atlanta. En pocos meses, más de 1.000 personas detenidas por el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas podrían estar a unos metros de distancia.

“¿Va a haber agentes armados afuera?”, preguntó Alison Woodbury, quien ha dirigido el estudio de danza ALICATS durante 24 años.

Sin apenas previo aviso y sin audiencias públicas, medio millón de pies cuadrados (4,6 hectáreas) de espacio de almacén, inicialmente destinado a ser una propiedad comercial, se convertirán ahora en un “centro de procesamiento regional” del ICE, donde los detenidos podrían permanecer hasta una semana antes de ser trasladados a otro lugar.

“Eso no es algo que uno quiera tener justo enfrente de un centro de baile y cuidado infantil extraescolar”, dijo Woodbury. “Ni siquiera me siento cómoda”.

El centro de procesamiento forma parte de una iniciativa más amplia del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional para expandir rápidamente la detención de inmigrantes en ciudades de todo el país. Sin embargo, esta medida ha tomado por sorpresa a las autoridades locales, quienes, junto con sus comunidades, buscan respuestas con urgencia.

La idea es sencilla: convertir almacenes ya existentes en centros de detención para albergar a inmigrantes indocumentados antes de su posible deportación. Sin embargo, la oposición a esta medida es mucho más compleja, según afirman las autoridades locales.

En Mississippi, el senador republicano Roger Wicker rechazó un plan del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS, por sus siglas en inglés) para comprar un almacén como centro de detención, argumentando que sobrecargaría la infraestructura local y afectaría las oportunidades económicas. Según Wicker, la todavía secretaria del DHS, Kristi Noem, accedió a buscar otras alternativas. Maryland presentó una demanda por planes similares. En Arizona, las autoridades locales temen que el almacén convertido en centro represente una carga para la economía y los recursos locales.

Noem, quien dejará su cargo a finales de marzo, planeaba adjudicar cuatro contratos multimillonarios para adaptar almacenes existentes para la detención de inmigrantes, según dos fuentes familiarizadas con los contratos. Dos de estos contratos se han hecho públicos. Se esperaba que la adjudicación permitiera a los contratistas seleccionados comenzar las obras en Surprise (Arizona), Hamburg (Pensilvania), Tremont (Pensilvania) y Williamsport (Maryland), según una de las fuentes. Se desconoce si las obras en los almacenes de Pensilvania se llevarán a cabo y, en caso afirmativo, cuándo.

En un comunicado, la portavoz del DHS, Lauren Bis, dijo que “en lugar de depender de instalaciones propiedad de terceros, el ICE ahora está comprando propiedades en todo el país”, y agregó que el ICE hasta el momento ha firmado contratos para las instalaciones en Arizona y Maryland.

“Estas instalaciones estarán diseñadas como campus de servicio completo, que incluirán salas de audiencias de inmigración, admisión y evaluación, servicios médicos, acceso a asesoría legal, servicios religiosos, áreas recreativas, tecnología para la comunicación virtual con la familia, alimentos, productos de higiene y capacidad para procesar todos los casos”, dijo.

En Oakwood, la disputa por el nuevo centro está poniendo de manifiesto las complejas tensiones políticas derivadas de la agresiva aplicación de las leyes de inmigración. El condado de Hall forma parte de un Read more

By Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — If the United States assumed, before attacking Iran, that the major oil producer would be reluctant to close the Strait of Hormuz for fear of blocking its own oil exports, it miscalculated.

Traffic through the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil output normally flows, has been severely curtailed since the start of the latest Middle East conflict two weeks ago. At least 16 vessels in the region have been struck by drones or other weapons, with Iran claiming responsibility for some of the attacks.

But Iran itself is shipping oil through the strait in almost the same volumes as before the war, earning the much-needed cash to sustain its economy and war effort. In addition, there were already millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil at sea looking for buyers before the conflict began.

Tanker tracking data and satellite images show that Iranian crude has flowed through the strait even as the conflict has crippled exports of crude and natural gas from nearby Persian Gulf countries.

Energy analysts at trade data and analytics company Kpler estimated Thursday that Iran had been able to export 12 million barrels since the conflict began on February 28. Maritime intelligence company TankerTrackers has an even higher estimate: 13.7 million barrels as of the middle of last week.

Those figures would suggest that Iran is managing to ship about 1 million barrels per day (bpd). That compares with its average exports of 1.69 million bpd last year, according to Kpler’s data.

The United States appears to have made no effort to halt Iranian tankers, even as it has destroyed much of Iran’s navy. The United States has also largely avoided hitting oil infrastructure such as refineries, pipelines and storage tanks – although Israeli strikes have seriously damaged storage tanks around the capital, Tehran.

Almost all Iranian oil is exported from deep-water berths on Kharg Island, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) off the Iranian coast. There were intense US strikes Friday against military targets on the island but not its oil infrastructure.

Trump later warned he would reconsider the decision not to target oil facilities on Kharg, which is about one-third the size of Manhattan, if Iran continued to obstruct the passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked by CNN Sunday whether Trump was prepared to target oil facilities on Kharg, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, said the president was “not going to take any options off the table… I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their energy infrastructure.”

For now, Washington is “fine” with some Iranian as well as Indian and Chinese ships getting through the Strait of Hormuz, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview Monday.

Kharg’s oil infrastructure was still operational Saturday, according to TankerTrackers. The company said that, according to satellite images, all 55 crude oil storage tanks on the island appeared to be intact, and two Iranian tankers were loading 2.7 million barrels of crude oil Saturday.

By Michael Williams and Masoud Popalzai, CNN

(CNN) — An Afghan man who served alongside US special forces and fled his native country after its takeover by the Taliban died over the weekend shortly after being detained by immigration authorities, according to his family and an advocacy group.

Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal died on Saturday, less than a day after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside of his Dallas-area apartment. His family said the 41-year-old father of six had no known health conditions and had been seeking asylum since his arrival to the US in August 2021. The Department of Homeland Security said his humanitarian parole expired last August.

DHS said in a statement that Paktyawal, who was arrested during a “targeted enforcement operation” and did not report any prior medical history, complained of shortness of breath and chest pains during his medical intake exam at a Dallas ICE field office after his Friday arrest.

ICE contacted paramedics, who transported Paktyawal to a Dallas hospital, DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis said. On Saturday, Paktyawal’s tongue was swollen and he received an IV drip. His condition deteriorated Saturday morning and he died shortly after 9 a.m. local time after receiving CPR and other resuscitative efforts from physicians, Bis added.

An initial report from the Dallas County Medical Examiner listed no cause or manner of death. Paktyawal’s death marks the 12th of a detainee in ICE custody this year.

It has prompted widespread grief in the close-knit Afghan diaspora community in Texas, where many of the more than 190,000 Afghans who fled to the US after the country’s government collapsed in August 2021 settled, said Rahmanullah Zazy, a leader in the Dallas-area Afghan community who knew Paktyawal and his family.

“They’re saying they took our community member alive to the detention center, and now we are getting the dead body,” Zazy said. “We want peace.”

The Biden administration evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans after the country’s government was taken over by the Taliban as the US withdrew, ending two decades of war.

The effort was meant to protect Afghans whose work alongside US servicemembers made them vulnerable to reprisals from the new Taliban government.

Both Zazy and a group that has advocated for Afghan refugees said Paktyawal served alongside US special forces starting around 2005.

DHS said in its statement that, upon entering the US, Paktyawal “provided no record of his military service.” But the advocacy group, AfghanEvac, provided a certificate of service indicating Paktyawal served alongside a special forces group in eastern Afghanistan, along the Pakistan border.

“We don’t know how he died,” said the group’s president, Shawn VanDiver. “We just know he’s dead.”

CNN has reached out to Fort Bragg, the military base where the special forces group was based, to confirm Paktyawal’s service alongside the US service members.

After President Donald Trump took office last year, he enacted broad changes to US refugee policy which cut off