Passengers across the US have had their travel plans upended by the latest Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which has triggered widespread staffing shortages at airports as security employees go weeks without pay.

“We are returning from St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, to Boston today and it took fully three hours to get through US customs. Absolutely insane,” Boston-based passenger John Hildebrandt told the Guardian.

“I’ve traveled for business over the last 30 years and never experienced motionless queues like the one we just exited. If it weren’t for a rather insistent transport dispatcher who strongly suggested that we leave for the airport three and a half hours early, we would have never made our flight.”

Major airports nationwide have seen security lines stretch for hours due to the recent and ongoing funding impasse on Capitol Hill over immigration enforcement and reform. The shutdown has prompted many of the unpaid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, who fall under DHS, to increasingly refuse to report for duty or quit. Nearly 500 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began last month.

Despite the Trump administration coming under fire for its handling of immigration raids, which has led to several ICE killings including those of the Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Donald Trump has deployed ICE agents to airports to assist with security – a move that has drawn widespread condemnation from both the public and lawmakers.

The impact on travelers has been immediate and severe. Passengers around the US shared with the Guardian that they had spent hours in security lines, missed flights and scrambled to either rebook or cancel trips. Some are opting not to travel at all.

“I’ve been caught up in these queues in large airports even without the current chaos,” said Bronwyn Fryer, a 72-year-old writer from Montpelier, Vermont, who canceled a planned trip to California. “The thought of encountering ICE at airports was the nail in the coffin. I feel like we’re condemned to a never-ending nightmare under this current administration.”

In Florida, personal assistant Kristin Campos missed her international flight to Costa Rica last week. She said she “was dropped off at Miami international airport and waited four hours in the TSA line and missed my flight”.

For some families, the disruption has come at a steep financial cost. A Tennessee-based mother said she rebooked her daughter’s spring break travel to avoid Atlanta, Georgia.

“To do so cost our family over $600 but I need to make sure she can get back to campus on Sunday night. Yesterday and the day before, news media was reporting lines of over five hours of security at Atlanta which is where we had planned to drop her off on our way back to Nashville from a visit to the beach in Florida,” she said, before adding: “Last night, I rebooked her to fly out of Panama City to avoid TSA security lines in Atlanta. The lines at Panama City are reported to be much better, although we still plan to drop her off three hours early for a domestic flight, which is ridiculous.”

At smaller airports, confusion has compounded delays. A Connecticut-based traveler described the situation at Tweed New Haven airport, saying: “It was chaos and the lines were not orderly or clear as to why we were in them. The airport is very small and they are trying to get more travelers through it than it can accommodate. Add TSA shortages to this recipe and chaos reigns. We will not travel by air in the future, or until the problems are resolved.

“This is entirely a manufactured crisis by the Trump administration. It is a shameless, insensitive policy by an uncaring regime,” the person continued.

Another passenger named John, in Texas, described abandoning one airport entirely, having initially booked a 7.30am United flight out of Houston George Bush intercontinental airport (IAH).

“I woke up at 3am to get to the airport as soon as possible due to the lines. I arrived and the airport line, no joke, had no end. The wait was at least five hours. I ended up leaving for Houston’s Hobby airport with Southwest. The other airport’s wait was 0 minutes. This is a gross mismanagement and IAH needs to be shut down until it’s sorted,” he said.

Beyond missed flights and long lines, some travelers say the broader economic and political climate is also influencing their travel decisions. The US and Israel’s ongoing war in the Middle East against Iran, they note, has sent gas prices soaring and fueled a global energy crisis.

A Louisiana-based passenger told the Guardian he is reconsidering multiple trips that he had planned after completing physical therapy.

“Now that I can finally travel, between the price of fuel and the long lines at airports, if I travel at all, it’ll be much closer destinations that I can reach by car. Even that travel will likely be cut back due to inflation and the effects on my savings caused by a jittery stock market since Trump’s war with Iran and his unhinged threats,” he said.

He continued: “In the last month, I had a paper loss of roughly 5% of my savings. I’ll try to ride it out hoping the market will rebound, but between rising prices and a falling market, travel is an early casualty.”