India, March 9 -- A shortage of TSA workers led to massive security lines and hours-long wait times at US airports on Sunday. The ongoing partial government shutdown has caused staffing shortages at the Transportation Security Administration, turning airports into a nightmare for thousands of travellers.

Visuals shared on social media show passengers standing in extremely long queues at security checkpoints run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at airports in Houston and New Orleans.

Since TSA agents are federal workers under DHS, they are being directly affected by the partial shutdown. According to Business Insider, many stopped showing up to work as they stopped receiving their salary.

The queue for security clearance at ...