PHOENIX — On this Thanksgiving, Phoenix Sky Harbor TSA officer Martina Santana said she is grateful to finally have the means to visit her family after going weeks without pay during the record-long, 43-day government shutdown.

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Santana and tens of thousands of other TSA employees finally saw their back pay hit their accounts earlier this week—a relief that came just in time for the holidays. For Santana, though, the payment arrived about ten days after the government reopened, stretching the stress of the shutdown even longer.

“We were checking, like, the millionth time, like, checking on my phone every day,” she said.

The missed paychecks left many employees frustrated and worried about basic necessities.

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