Philadelphia airport security officers are being punished for a crisis they didn't create. After weeks without pay during the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, many Transportation Security Administration officers at Philadelphia International Airport couldn't afford childcare, had their cars repossessed, and simply couldn't get to work.

Now they're being marked Absent Without Leave — a disciplinary designation that means they won't be paid for those days.

LaShanda Palmer, a 24-year TSA veteran and union president at Philadelphia International, says officers are already calling her about missing money in their checks. The Absent Without Leave designation is making it worse.

These officers didn't abandon their posts. The government abandoned them.

We call on Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Transportation Security Administration Acting Administrator Stacy Cohen to immediately remove all Absent Without Leave designations for Philadelphia airport security officers who missed work due to the shutdown.