In almost every movie about life under a dictatorship, there is a scene where the security services order someone to “show me your papers.” The United States under Donald Trump has not fully arrived at that place. But it is closer than most Americans want to admit.
On Monday the president ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to assist the Transportation Security Administration at the country’s airports. Due to the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which began Feb. 14 after the GOP failed to accede to Democrats’ demands to reform ICE, TSA employees have been working without pay for weeks. Some have called in sick. Others have quit. The result: long lines and mounting delays at major airports across the country.
