International travelers are bracing for longer waits after the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday that Global Entry will remain offline for the duration of the partial government shutdown.
The decision follows confusion late Saturday when DHS signaled it would suspend both Global Entry and the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program. Hours later, officials reversed course on PreCheck, keeping it operational while shelving the trusted traveler program run by Customs and Border Protection.
“As staffing constraints arise, TSA will evaluate on a case-by-case basis and adjust operations accordingly,” the agency said.
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The disruption traces back to the funding lapse that began Feb. 14, when Democrats and the White House failed to strike a deal to finance DHS operations. At the center of the standoff are Democratic demands for changes to immigration enforcement policies tied to President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda.
The timing compounds pressure on airports already contending with severe weather. A major winter storm is forecast to sweep across the East Coast from Sunday into Monday. By Sunday afternoon, nine out of 10 departures scheduled for Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Boston Logan Airport had been canceled.
Global Entry allows pre-screened, low-risk travelers returning from abroad to bypass standard customs lines and use automated kiosks. While the government does not publish precise data on time savings, travel industry analysts estimate the program reduces customs processing from roughly 30 to 90 minutes in regular queues to about five to 10 minutes.
Enrollment in Global Entry also includes TSA PreCheck. DHS reported in 2024 that more than 20 million Americans were enrolled in PreCheck, with millions holding overlapping Global Entry memberships.
Despite the announcement, wait times appeared manageable through midday Sunday. TSA’s mobile app showed security lines at most major international airports holding at under 15 minutes.
For some travelers, however, the difference was noticeable.
Blair Perkins, 39, of Dallas, learned about the Global Entry suspension before departing Cancun for home Sunday morning. When she and her friends landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, they joined the standard customs queue.
“We went around about four or five different corners to get to the end of the U.S. line,” she said in an AP report.
With Global Entry, it usually takes less than five minutes to get through customs. she said. Sunday, it took about 30 minutes.
Perkins described the situation as exasperating. “It feels like Washington is using travelers as a pawn to try to, I guess, persuade the other side to do what they want,” she said.
Earlier, Homeland Security said it was implementing “emergency measures to preserve limited funds.” Among the proposals were “ending Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck lanes and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry service, to refocus Department personnel on the majority of travelers.”
The decision to keep PreCheck in place drew praise from the travel industry. “We are glad that DHS has decided to keep PreCheck operational and avoid a crisis of its own making,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
Before the reversal, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had warned that “shutdowns have serious real world consequences.” She also said that during the funding lapse, members of Congress would lose access to courtesy airport escorts.
Not all passengers experienced disruption. Jean Fay, 54, said her 6 a.m. Sunday departure from Baltimore went smoothly through PreCheck. She only became aware of the broader turmoil while connecting in Austin on her way to Dallas Love Field.
“When I landed in Austin I started getting the alerts,” she said.
Airlines for America, which represents major carriers, urged lawmakers to break the impasse. The group said “it’s past time for Congress to get to the table and get a deal done.” It also faulted DHS for rolling out the initial suspension plan with little warning, calling it “issued with extremely short notice to travelers, giving them little time to plan accordingly.”
“A4A is deeply concerned that TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs are being suspended and that the traveling public will be, once again, used as a political football amid another government shutdown,” the organization said.
Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security accused the administration of mishandling airport security and “kneecapping the programs that make travel smoother and secure.”
Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, argued the episode reflects a broader strategy.
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“This administration is trying to weaponize our government, trying to make things intentionally more difficult for the American people as a political leverage,” he told CNN on Sunday. “And the American people see that.”
