TSA agents at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta can use gift cards given to them by Tyler Perry.
According to Atlanta-based NBC affiliate WXIA, Perry gave out more than $250,000 last week. Soon afterward, the airport’s federal security director ordered agents to return the gift cards, citing issues with employees receiving monetary gifts. In response, Perry’s team received the proper “documentation” from both the Department of Homeland Security and TSA’s legal teams so agents could keep the cards.
A representative for Perry confirmed that agents can now use the gift cards for Entertainment Weekly.
”Since late last week, Tyler worked closely with the TSA to make sure the donation was handled properly. At one point, there was confusion over a return of about 100 gift cards from employees to TSA supervisors,” the statement read. “But Tyler’s team reconfirmed this morning that TSA’s legal counsel approved the donation. All of the approximately 100 returned gift cards are in the process of being given back to the employees.”
THE PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MORE THAN 40 DAYS
Since the partial government shutdown on February 14, TSA workers have missed out on more than $1 billion in pay. On March 25, acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill testified at a House hearing about the dire situation.
“This level of disruption is unprecedented, and unacceptable, and significantly undermines the security of U.S. transportation systems,” McNeill said.
“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table,” she said. “And that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as our callout rates increase.”
Because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lacks funding, nearly 50,000 transportation security officers were forced to work without pay for over 40 days. “Call-outs” reached over 12% in late March. At major hubs like Houston George Bush Intercontinental and New York LaGuardia, frustrated travelers faced staggering four-hour queues, and thousands have missed flights .
On March 31, it was announced that TSA workers will receive back pay.