By: Ellie Simmers | Editor-in-Chief
Late Sunday, March 23, a regional jet landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City collided with a firetruck crossing the runway at the time, killing two pilots and injuring dozens of people.
This horrific tragedy unfolds amid a partial government shutdown, with Democrats holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Republicans blocking Democratic proposals to fund the Transportation Security Administration while continuing to negotiate funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As a result of the Republicans holding TSA funding hostage, around 11% of TSA agents, according to DHS, did not report for work on Monday, as they are not being paid during this shutdown. ICE agents, however, are still being paid.
I am immediately reminded of the previous government shutdown in 2025 and how the defunding of SNAP benefits was used as punishment against the Democrats, who wanted healthcare covered in the annual budget, by the Trump administration.
This man, who is leading our country, and those who subscribe to his ideology continue to use the lives of American citizens as pawns in their games, every time the Democrats dare to take a stand against his policies.
Not only does it seem as if the “pro-life” party is comfortable with the lives of innocent people being used as pawns, but every single action taken by the Trump administration seems to be done without any plan or thought process to back it up.
We have yet to hear the reasoning for Operation Epic Fury, although it’s not hard to see it as the distraction it is.
As ICE agents are now being deployed to airports around the country to supplement the shortage of TSA agents, White House border czar Tom Homan seems as confused as I am about what training and qualifications ICE agents have to make them honorary TSA agents.
According to CBS, officials at ICE were caught off guard by Trump’s directive and have been “rushing” to create a plan.
What are we doing? Why are we allowing these clueless men to run around and do whatever they please with no reasoning?
I am tired of having to be more methodical and intelligent in my assignments for college than our elected officials seem to be in every action they take.
From the start of Trump’s second term, I have been taken aback by just how careless this administration seems to be.
Aside from Donald Trump himself, members of his cabinet like Pete Hegseth, who famously accidentally added a reporter to a classified Signal chat about military strikes in Yemen, only add to the chaos and recklessness.
This is what happens when you put a Fox News host, a WWE CEO, and a reality TV star in charge of the country.
I will forever mourn the lives lost here and across the globe because of the carelessness of those in charge.
