For more than 30 days now, TSA employees have been working without pay. That has caused more than 400 TSA workers to quit. Others are calling out sick in record numbers. Those shortages have been triggering hour-long security lines.

The head of TSA operations in San Diego said the partial government shutdown is not only impacting TSA lines at airports, but also his livelihood and the lives of many federal employees who are experiencing a lot financial pressure.

“Absolute shock because that’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard yet out of this,” Robert Mack said.

This is how Robert Mack is responding to President Trump’s announcement on Truth Social to send ICE agents to airports on Monday as Senate leaders failed again to reach a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Mack oversees TSA operations at San Diego International Airport and is the Chief Steward with the American Federation of Government Employees 1260.

He joined the agency in the wake of the 9/11 attacks because he felt called to fulfill a civic duty.

“My heart spoke to me. You have an opportunity to defend your homeland your homefront,” Mack said.  

But now, the career he once considered promising is bringing him and many other TSA employees financial strain and instability.

“We’re all hurting. Literally, checking accounts are all wiped out. We haven’t recovered from the last two that we’ve had before,” Mack said.

Mack is among the thousands of TSA employees working without pay since funding for DHS ran out last month.

Democrats vowed to withhold funding until Republicans agree to new reforms for ICE.

On Saturday, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill that would have funded only TSA, but not the rest of DHS.

President Donald Trump then warned on social media that if TSA is not funded by Monday, “ICE is ready to go,” and will provide airport security.

And their work would include the “immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into the country.”

“I think he’s wrong completely… there are really good immigrants here, they’ve been here for 20, 30, 40, 50 years… they pay their taxes and they’re good people,” Barnard Jourdain, who was travelling through San Diego said.

As agents continue to struggle without a check and the political stalemate continues, Mack anticipates more TSA employees will call out in the coming days or move on from what they once considered a promising career.

“My duty is still the same, but at the end, if I can’t put food in my stomach, I can’t keep a roof over my head, the people I’m supposed to be taking care of are failing me,” Mack said.

NBC 7 San Diego reached out to TSA for a comment and is awaiting a response.