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TSA hosts hiring blitz even though it can't pay workers

Hundreds of people have shown up to at least two hiring events in recent weeks -- even during the shutdown.
Credit: Joe Raedle, Getty Images
A patch is seen on the jacket of a Transportation Security Administration official as he works at the automated screening lanes funded by American Airlines and installed by the TSA at Miami International Airport on Oct. 24, 2017.

The TSA advertised $18.38 an hour at a recent Minneapolis hiring event, but interested applicants shouldn't expect to receive a dime during the government shutdown.

Especially when current employees aren't getting paid.

The agency has held two job fairs in the past few weeks even though there's no clear path in sight to reopen the government. 

RELATED: Federal workers band together, pleading for pay

RELATED: TSA screener sick-outs hit 10 percent over holiday weekend

One applicant at the event told KARE-TV he figured no one would show up because, "Why would people come to get a job where there’s no pay?"

Apparently a lot of people: more than 400 people showed up to the standing-room-only event, the station reported. A TSA official said the government shutdown will eventually end and people will get paid, but likely not in the next check.

RELATED: TSA wait times at Tampa airport now longer than JFK, LAX -- even Atlanta

Around 200 people showed up to a similar event in Tennessee -- a day after TSA officers went without a paycheck, the Associated Press reports. 

“It just shows that I’m willing to work, that I really want to do it,” Joshua Paders told the AP.

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