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Jatee Kearsley built Je T’aime Patisserie in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with a mission to make high-quality French desserts accessible to everyone, including customers who pay with EBT.

A self-taught pastry chef who learned from YouTube and years of industry work, Kearsley went from losing money to tripling her sales after going viral. Despite the high ingredient costs, steep New York City rent, intense pressure, and emotional burnout, Kearsley has been dedicated to prioritizing community over profits.

• Parent PLUS student-loan borrowers should consolidate their loans by April 1.
• Missing that deadline puts them at risk of losing access to income-driven repayment plans.
• Trump’s “big beautiful” spending legislation places new limits on parent PLUS borrowers beginning July 1.

Parent student-loan borrowers have to act quickly to keep their affordable monthly payments.

President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” spending legislation made sweeping changes to student-loan repayment, and loans that parents take out for their kids, known as parent PLUS, are facing a key deadline.

Currently, parents can take out loans equal to the full cost of attendance. Beginning July 1, 2026, parent PLUS borrowers will face a $20,000 annual cap and a $65,000 lifetime cap on borrowing per student. Also, loans issued after July 1 will not be eligible for income-driven repayment plans, which aim to give borrowers affordable payments based on income and offer loan forgiveness in 20 to 25 years.

This means that parent PLUS borrowers who are not on an income-driven repayment plan need to consolidate their loans into a federal direct loan before July 1 to retain access to affordable payments. The Department of Education recommends that borrowers seeking to consolidate do so “at least three months” before July 1 — that is, before April 1 — to account for any processing delays.

Once the consolidation is approved, borrowers have until July 1, 2028, to enroll in an IDR plan. After that date, existing income-driven repayment plans will be phased out and replaced with two options: a standard repayment plan, which offers fixed monthly payments for a period up to 25 years, or a new Repayment Assistance Plan, which sets payments based on income with forgiveness after 30 years.

RAP has less generous terms than existing repayment plans, and borrowers are likely to face higher monthly payments.

Parent PLUS borrowers who do not consolidate before July 1 will lose access to income-driven repayment plans, as will those who initiate a new loan after that date.

Alongside the parent PLUS changes, the Department of Education is eliminating the Grad PLUS program, which allowed graduate and professional students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance for their advanced degrees. Policy experts and lawmakers previously told Business Insider that the new borrowing caps could drive more parents and students to private lending, which could have riskier terms and higher interest rates.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Department of Education decreased oversight over federal student-loan servicers, putting borrowers at risk of billing errors as the repayment changes are implemented. Additionally, the department recently announced that it will be transferring part of the federal student-loan portfolio to the Treasury, which advocates and Democratic lawmakers said opens the door for transfer errors.

Have a story to share about student loans? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• Search interest in CLEAR is spiking as airport security lines stretch for hours.
• CLEAR lets travelers bypass the standard TSA ID check at around 60 airports.
• Houston’s George Bush Airport — one of the hardest hit by long lines — shut down CLEAR for Monday.

Air travelers across the US are facing hourslong security lines — and many are looking to a $209-a-year service to skip them.

CLEAR, a biometric identity service that lets travelers bypass the standard TSA ID check at around 60 airports, is seeing a surge in interest as airport delays worsen nationwide.

Under normal conditions, CLEAR uses fingerprint or eye scans to verify a traveler’s identity and move them to the front of the ID-check portion of the TSA line.

These aren’t normal conditions.

A partial government shutdown has disrupted funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Transportation Security Administration. The lapse has left TSA officers unpaid, resulting in significant staffing shortages. Hundreds of security agents quit after their employer missed a mid-March payment.

For several days, travelers have reported waits stretching for hours, with lines spilling beyond security checkpoints and into terminal parking areas.

As wait times grow, travelers are reaching for digital tools that promise to make flying easier — even if those tools aren’t functioning normally.

Earlier this month, the app MyTSA — which provides checkpoint wait times and airport updates — saw what analytics firm Appfigures Intelligence described as a “genuine sudden surge” in downloads. Appfigures told Business Insider that the app was downloaded about 740,000 times over nine days, more than it typically sees in a full year.

MyTSA’s usefulness has been limited. Last week, a notice in the app warned that, due to the lapse in federal funding, it was not being actively managed.

CLEAR appears to be another possible workaround gaining traction.

Search interest in CLEAR has hit a multi-decade high, according to Google Trends, and app analytics firm Appfigures said it is tracking a spike in downloads.

One complication for hopeful travelers: CLEAR isn’t always available.

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport — one of the airports hardest hit by long lines — said on X that its CLEAR lanes would not be operating on Monday.

In an emailed statement to Business Insider, CLEAR acknowledged that conditions are changing rapidly.

“CLEAR remains open and ready to serve our Members,” a spokesperson said. “Though due to circumstances beyond our control, airport conditions are changing rapidly and may affect service at some of our locations.”

The company added that travelers should check with their local airport for updates and thanked Transportation Security Officers for their work.

TSA and DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

• President Donald Trump instructed his border czar to deploy ICE agents to US airports.
• Airport security lines have stretched for three hours in some places as unpaid TSA agents call out.
• Trump said ICE agents are able to arrest foreigners at the airports.

Air travel just got even more chaotic.

After weeks of airport security lines spilling into sidewalks and parking garages — as unpaid TSA officers call out en masse during the partial government shutdown — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been sent to airports nationwide to help manage the crowds.

President Donald Trump first threatened the action in a Saturday TruthSocial post after Congress, for the fifth time, failed to reach a deal on Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote. He instructed his border czar, Tom Homan, to lead the effort.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said the agency is not releasing an official list of airports with ICE agents: “For operational security reasons, we are not going to confirm the locations of our officers.”

Some have been revealed.

Reuters and ABC News have reported that ICE agents — who, unlike TSA agents, are still being paid during the shutdown — are stationed at the following US airports as of Monday, citing social media posts and officials.

• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE)
• Houston Hobby Airport (HOU)
• Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
• Fort Myers’ Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)
• Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)
• San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
• New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
• New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Several X posts show ICE agents standing at TSA checkpoints and talking to passengers on Monday. They are identifiable by their green and beige uniforms with a “Police ICE” patch. Trump said in a Monday TruthSocial post that he wanted ICE agents to be maskless at airports — they have routinely worn masks and uniforms lacking nametags during immigration raids.

However, few details were given about what these ICE agents — who are trained in law enforcement, not airport security — would actually be doing to help.

TSA agents receive months of specialized training to detect contraband that ICE agents wouldn’t have had time for in the seemingly few days it took Trump’s plan to come together.

Homan said during CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast on Sunday that ICE duties would be more about crowd control and covering the exits than looking at X-ray machines — but he did not say they would stop conducting their regular immigration enforcement at airports.

On Monday, Trump told reporters that ICE agents at airports are “able to now arrest illegals as they come into the country. That’s very fertile territory.”

Some industry analysts say their presence — especially as people increasingly disapprove of ICE — could make things worse.

ICE is not trained in airport security

ICE and TSA are both part of DHS, but their roles are very different: ICE is armed law enforcement with arrest powers; TSA agents are unarmed screeners who interact with the public but have no police authority.

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, warned in a Sunday statement that ICE agents “cannot improvise” airport security.

“TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification,” he wrote. “Putting untrained personnel at security checkpoints does not fill a gap. It creates one.”

Homan provided some clarifications to CNN. He said ICE agents are “well-trained” in security and identification and are already present at some airports for certain investigations, such as smuggling.

But he said that they would not conduct screenings; instead, they would handle support roles, such as managing passenger flow, covering exits, and assisting with crowd control. TSA lines at airports in Houston and New York have stretched as long as three hours; some airports, like Atlanta, have stopped reporting wait times altogether.

“Stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to reduce those lines,” Homan said. “I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine because they’re not trained in that; there are certain parts of security that TSA’s doing that we can move them off those jobs and put them in the specialized jobs and help them move those lines.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday that ICE agents operate similar screening machines for people and packages at the Mexican border — suggesting they have the proper security training and could help agents in those areas — but said just managing the flow of people is helpful.

Helpful or not, their presence could still be intimidating.

Cathy Creighton, the director of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab, said in a statement shared with Business Insider that ICE agents have been “acting aggressively in public situations” and may not provide the “softness” and “de-escalation” needed in the confined TSA areas.

“Additionally, the public perception of ICE is poor,” she said. “Multiple public polling has found that public support for ICE has declined markedly.”

Roughly 56% of Americans expressed little to no confidence in ICE in a poll by The Economist/YouGov conducted from February 27 to March 2.

Federal officers on Sunday detained a passenger at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in an “isolated incident” that the airport was not involved in, an airport spokesperson told Business Insider.

SFO is one of 20 airports across the US that use officers employed by private security companies instead of the TSA —meaning they are paid during the shutdown thanks to pre-funded contracts. SFO said lines have been short.

ICE agents are still being paid

ICE’s presence at airports comes as more than 400 TSA officers have left the agency since DHS funding lapsed and their pay was paused on February 14.

Frontline TSA agents average $60,000 to $75,000 a year, but often live paycheck to paycheck. The ICE agents now stationed alongside them are still being paid, as DHS has funding that continues to cover certain law enforcement roles even during the shutdown.

TSA agents will not get paid again until Congress reaches a deal to fund DHS. Republicans have blamed Democrats for the shutdown, while Democrats say they will not approve a deal without reforms to ICE, including requiring agents to show their faces and wear body cameras.

• Delays persist at TSA checkpoints across US airports due to the partial government shutdown.
• As of Monday afternoon, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is advising travelers to show up 4 hours early.
• Here’s the latest on TSA delays, and how to check wait times before you travel.

If you’re flying in the US, get ready to stand in line.

Airports across the US are continuing to see lengthy waits at security checkpoints as scores of TSA workers call out due to missed paychecks.

A partial government shutdown has left the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration unfunded and their agents unpaid at the height of the spring break travel season.

As many as 10% of all TSA agents called out on several days last week, DHS updates showed, with absence rates averaging as much as 20% in some airports. A DHS spokesperson told Business Insider that some airports, such as William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, had seen absence rates as high at 40.8%.

Security lines in affected airports are spiking unpredictably from day to day, and sometimes even from hour to hour.

“The current unpredictability is being driven by unpredictable staffing levels, basically, how many TSA officers are showing up for work on any given day,” Sheldon H. Jacobson, the founder professor of engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert on aviation security and airport security screening, told Business Insider.

“TSA officers have historically been cross-trained to do many different tasks, so the number that show up is the key factor,” Jacobson said.

How long are the TSA delays?

Delays at TSA checkpoints across the US have been unpredictable, and some airports are changing how they’re communicating with travelers.

As of Monday afternoon, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest by passenger numbers, displayed the following message on its website: “Due to current federal conditions, passengers are advised to allow at least 4 hours or more for domestic and international screenings.”

Atlanta has been among the worst-affected airports since the shutdown began, with over a third of TSA staff not showing up on some days.

The airport said there had been congestion at the international checkpoint as domestic travelers try to bypass long lines in the domestic terminal. The airport said domestic travelers should use the domestic checkpoints.

At Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, lines stretched over three hours on Sunday evening. As of Monday afternoon, wait times ranged from 150 to 200 minutes, and the airport warned on its website that waits could exceed 4 hours.

Lines at checkpoints at JFK, the New York area’s biggest airport, are running at about 45 minutes on Monday afternoon.

JFK said it has “deployed additional customer care staff into terminals to help manage queues, assist passengers, and keep people moving as efficiently as possible.”

As of Monday, Newark Liberty International Airport displays a message on its website that says security wait times may be “significantly longer than normal.”

“Please allow for significantly more time and check with your airline for the current status of your flight,” the message says.

Separate from TSA issues, LaGuardia Airport was closed early Monday after a plane collided with a vehicle. It reopened at 2 p.m. ET, though travelers should expect delays and cancellations.

Denver, home of the fourth-busiest airport in the US, is experiencing wait times of 3 minutes on Monday afternoon. Dallas-Fort Worth lines are at 18 minutes.

At Los Angeles International Airport, the nation’s fifth-busiest travel hub, waits were listed as 2 minutes.

Some airports have so far avoided the hourslong lines. Business Insider’s Taylor Rains flew out of Las Vegas last week and saw minimal TSA lines.

The maximum wait time at Philadelphia International Airport was listed as 30 minutes on Monday, although some terminals were quicker.

How to check TSA wait times

The unpredictable delays mean travelers should plan for long waits even if their airport hasn’t yet experienced problems.

The easiest way to avoid the stress of missing your flight is to give yourself extra time in the airport. Many airports are advising travelers this week to arrive up to three hours before their flight, even for domestic flights.

Many airports, including major hubs like Atlanta, Houston, JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Denver, have been posting TSA wait times live on their websites.

These can also provide more specific insights. For example, DFW’s website shows the wait times at each checkpoint.

You can also use the MyTSA mobile app. It provides estimated wait times in 15-minute intervals based on average checkpoint data. The app, however, will use historical data if the live data cannot be retrieved. The TSA also says it is not “actively” managing its sites during the partial shutdown, and so the app may not always be updated.

How long will the TSA delays persist?

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airport delays could get worse.

“As we get into next week and they’re about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child’s play, what’s happening right now,” Duffy said on CNBC.

Some airports could be forced to close, both Duffy and Adam Stahl, the TSA’s acting deputy administrator, said.

Airports like Denver and Seattle have asked the public for food, gift cards, and basic supplies to support TSA staff working without pay.

• Two pilots were killed after an Air Canada plane collided with a fire vehicle at LaGuardia Airport.
• The airport reopened at 2 p.m. ET with a single runway, which will likely slow traffic.
• About 600 flights have been canceled out of LaGuardia on Monday.

An Air Canada aircraft collided with a ground vehicle at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday, killing two pilots and forcing the airport to shut down as investigators examined the crash.

The airport was reopened with operations limited to a single runway, as of 2 p.m. Eastern on Monday.

The Air Canada Express flight, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation — a Canadian regional carrier that runs shorthaul flights on behalf of Air Canada — struck a Port Authority rescue and firefighting vehicle on the airfield shortly after landing, authorities said.

Flight AC8646 was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members, Jazz Aviation said in a statement. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told Business Insider that 41 people were transported to the hospital, including 39 flight passengers and two officers who were in the truck; 32 of those people have been released.

The airport reopened just after 2 p.m. Eastern on Monday, though with only one runway.

That is expected to slow traffic and reduce capacity; the airport told travelers to “expect residual delays and cancellations” and to check with their airlines for the latest flight information.

About 600 flights at LaGuardia have been canceled on Monday, per the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau said in a video on X that the airline is focused on caring for its people and guests. He told anyone who thinks they may have a loved one on the flight to call 1-800-961-7099 for assistance.

‘Stop, stop, stop’

The flight left Montreal around 10:35 p.m. E.T. and touched down at LaGuardia at 11:37 p.m., per data from Flightradar24.

A New York City Fire Department spokesperson told Business Insider the department responded to a call at 11:38 p.m. about an incident involving a plane and a vehicle on the runway.

The airport was officially closed at 3:16 a.m ET, per an FAA alert.

New York Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia told reporters early Monday morning that two pilots on the aircraft were confirmed dead.

Garcia said the fire truck involved in the collision was responding to a separate United Airlines aircraft that had reported an odor issue. The two officers in the truck who were taken to the hospital are in stable condition with no life-threatening injuries.

An air traffic control recording from LiveATC.net captured the moments before the collision. In the recording, a controller can be heard clearing the truck to cross Runway 4.

Shortly after, they are heard urgently instructing the vehicle to stop and telling a separate plane to abort its landing and go around.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop truck 1,” the controller can be heard saying. “Stop, stop, stop!” The controller then says there was an incident on the airfield and that the runway is closed.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, and federal investigators are on-site, Garcia said.

The NYPD said roads and highway exits into the airport are closed until further notice.

Jazz Aviation said it is cooperating with authorities investigating the crash. Air Canada has set up a helpline for friends and family of passengers on the flight.

Mass disruption at LaGuardia

LaGuardia served over 30 million passengers in 2025, per the Port Authority.

Along with Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and New York-JFK, LaGuardia is one of the three major commercial airports serving New York.

LaGuardia said in an X post earlier on Sunday that weather conditions had caused flight disruptions and advised passengers to check the status of their flights with their airlines.

Operations at Newark Airport were also temporarily halted on Monday due to a control tower evacuation, meaning air travel was heavily affected at two of the major New York City-area travel hubs. Operations at Newark have since resumed.

In an update at 9:45 a.m. ET, Delta Air Lines, which has its own terminal at LaGuardia, said it suspended all flights from the airport. The airline said it would allow customers with affected flights to rebook on the next best itinerary.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, said in a post on X that the union’s “hearts are with the crew, passengers, and their families” and that its employee assistance program is available to support those affected.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the crash should prompt “far greater scrutiny” of air traffic control staffing, pointing to a long-standing shortage of controllers.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on X on Monday morning that the city is in close contact with federal, state, and local authorities as the NTSB investigates the collision. He praised first responders “whose swift actions saved lives.”