Everyone looking to travel to Texas Showdown and other events should plan ahead accordingly
This weird year that is 2026 is continuing to move forward and giving us all more unexpected situations to deal with.
Any fighting game players looking to travel in or to the United States, including those returning home from events like Capcom Cup 12 and the Arc World Tour Finals or heading to Texas Showdown 2026, are facing extensive wait times at airports with no signs of improving right now.
There is currently a growing Transportation Security Administration staffing crisis going on due to a partial government shutdown impacting the Department of Homeland Security.
TSA agents have been working without pay for more than one month now, as lawmakers and the President continue to disagree on solving the funding impasse.
This has led to hundreds of TSA agents to quit their jobs or begin calling in due to the financial strain, pushing many airports around the country towards a breaking point according to the Associated Press.
The staffing crisis has of course led to expansive delays for air travel with the George Bush Intercontinental Airport showing wait times of more than four hours today according to CNN though others aren’t being impacted to that level yet.
Starting today, the Trump Administration has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to at least 14 airports including Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York), LaGuardia Airport (New York), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Newark Liberty International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers, Florida) and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
While the government won’t say what exactly the ICE agents are doing at these airports, it appears from today they are holding down security lines and checkpoints at least.
As both parties stand firm on their disagreement on DHS funding, Republican leaders proposed compromising on partial funding for the agency minus ICE, which President Trump reportedly refused unless lawmakers can pass his voting bill.
With no apparent solution in sight, air travel wait times and support are likely to continue to worsen unfortunately.
So any fighting game players traveling to events like Texas Showdown 2026 this week or beyond are going to need to plan accordingly by keeping a close eye on their local and destination airports.
On the international level, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East led to Arc System Works making the unusual decision to request one of their top players from Israel to withdraw from the AWT Finals over safety concerns.
ICE agents previously detained longtime Fighting Game Community member Ludovic Mbock for multiple weeks until a judge ordered his release while awaiting further immigration hearings.
Give yourselves a lot of extra time, plan ahead, check your airport information and stay safe to anyone looking to travel right now.
Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay.
