The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it is ending collective bargaining for Transportation Security Officers with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). 

In a release obtained exclusively by FOX Business, DHS said the TSA has more people doing "full-time union work" rather than performing screening functions at 86% of U.S. airports. 

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is facing a budget shortfall that began before President Donald Trump took office but that could be an obstacle for his promise of mass deportations around the country now that it is the principal agency tasked with carrying out those deportations.

Trump administration officials are now considering pulling funding from the Transportation Security Administration to make up for it, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced today that, in 2022, it detected a record 6,542 firearms in carry-on bags or on passengers at checkpoints. That’s a sizeable jump from the 5,972 detected in 2021 and a spike compared with the 4,432 detected in 2019. Of the guns caught in 2022, approximately 88 percent were loaded. Firearms were caught at 262 airport checkpoints nationwide.

The Wall Street Journal’s write-up includes these eye-opening anecdotes:

Transportation Security Administration officers confiscated more than 6,542 firearms from airport passengers in 2022 — the highest number recorded since the agency's inception. Of those guns taken at airport security checkpoints, 88% were loaded, the agency announced Tuesday.  

The confiscations by TSA mark a nearly 10% increase over the 5,972 firearms seized in 2021, which was also a record. 

The agency announced in December that it was raising the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation from $13,910 to $14,950. 

The Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday that travel returned to pre-pandemic levels, with around 2 million passengers screened a day, but 2022 also set a new record for firearm interceptions.

The agency reported that it confiscated 6,542 firearms in 2022, 88% of which were loaded, at security checkpoints. That’s an increase of more than 500 firearms in 2021, which saw a record of 5,972 firearms.

U.S. officials screened 8.76 million air travelers over the four-day Labor Day weekend, marking the first time holiday weekend screening volume has exceeded 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Tuesday the four-day period topped the 8.24 million passengers screened over the Labor Day weekend in 2019, which traditionally marks the end of the busy U.S. summer travel season.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) pressed the head of the Transportation Security Administration about the number of immigrants released by Border Patrol who have used arrest warrants as a form of ID to board airplanes.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske said under 1,000 people had used arrest warrants or deportation orders in order to travel.

"How does this policy comport with 13 USC 1325, which criminalizes improper entry into the United States by an alien?" Hawley asked.