Last month, U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Policy  Tori Barnes said Customs and Border Protection staffing shortages will disrupt the Global Entry program — the expedited clearance of pre-approved members passing through U.S. airports and international borders.

“The American travel community is deeply concerned that Customs and Border Protection staffing shortages will disrupt the Global Entry program, a critical tool for both travel facilitation and travel security,” she said in her statement.

The Trusted Traveler Program’s website has an announcement saying, “The extended partial government shutdown has resulted in a backlog … of applications and renewals.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote in a statement, “CBP is temporarily reducing staff at Global Entry Enrollment Centers nationwide and reassigning them to support frontline traveler processing during the busy summer months.” It continued, “Regrettably, this situation has forced the cancellation of some scheduled appointments and may make it difficult to schedule an immediate interview.”

Due to a shortage of $4.5 billion in supplemental funding, DHS is making cuts to its other agencies’ budgets and operations, including those of the Transportation Security Administration.

In May, DHS diverted hundreds of TSA officers to the Mexican border to support CBP in handling the escalating immigration crisis. It was thought DHS would potentially use the nearly $1 million in loose change left behind by passengers in U.S. airports in 2018 — funds typically used by the TSA to improve aviation security — to bolster increased border operations.

“Global Entry has been a shining example of effective and innovative post-9/11 policymaking: a program that bolsters security by thoroughly pre-vetting entrants into the U.S. and simultaneously boosts economic activity by streamlining the entry process,” Barnes said. “Interruption of Global Entry interviews is an unsettling sign that resources for Homeland Security functions are not keeping pace with the shifting array of challenges that face the agency’s important work. We need a broad and comprehensive national conversation about the reforms and investments that are needed to properly secure our entry points and transportation systems. It’s not just security that’s at stake, but economic growth as well.”