A recent Senate report has accused the Biden administration of pressuring American airports to accommodate illegal immigrants, despite warnings from aviation officials that such actions could pose a threat to airport safety and the wellbeing of travelers.
As reported by The Post Millennial, the Senate Commerce Committee released a 47-page document titled Flight Risk. The report alleges that the Biden administration directed federal transportation agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and Federal Transit Administration (FTA), to identify airport facilities that could be repurposed as temporary shelters or processing centers for illegal immigrants.
The report further claims that the Biden administration instructed the DOT and FAA to assess available facilities at both federally operated and local airports, with the intention of diverting federal resources to support the housing of illegal immigrants.
The committee obtained internal emails, including one dated October 6, 2023, from an FAA official to Massport, which operates Boston Logan International Airport. The official wrote, We have received a request from the WH to determine if there are available facilities on airport or surrounding areas This is an immediate ask so please prioritize this effort. A DOT staff member responded, Yikes, this is definitely Fox News fodder in the making.
The report reveals that at least 11 airports, including Chicago OHare and New Yorks JFK, were approached, sometimes repeatedly, about the possibility of housing illegal immigrants within terminals, hangars, or auxiliary buildings.
The report alleges that FAA officials recognized that such actions would violate federal grant-assurance rules, which limit non-aviation activities at airports. However, the agency ignored them most of the time, according to the report.
Massport warned federal officials that Logan Airport was not equipped to handle or manage large migrant populations, stating, We are not designed or resourced to manage the intake of migrant populations this would create a host of unintended safety and security consequences.
Despite these warnings, Logan Airport reportedly housed as many as 352 illegal immigrants overnight in Terminal E, incurring costs of $779,000 on cleaning, security, and transportation.
Chicagos OHare International Airport reportedly accommodated up to 900 illegal immigrants in a shuttle terminal from April 2023 to February 2024. During this period, police recorded 329 service calls and 26 arrests, including cases of theft, disorderly conduct, and a death investigation. City officials conceded that asylum seekers [we]re not restricted to the staging area.
The committee also highlighted an incident where an Ecuadorian national, Kleber Loor-Ponce, breached a security post at JFK Airport and ran toward two active runways. He was apprehended carrying a box cutter and scissors, raising further concerns about passenger and airport worker safety.
The report also alleges that the administration tasked transportation agencies with additional migrant-related duties, such as developing a Know Your Rights pamphlet for bus passengers and coordinating with states tracking bus companies transporting migrants. The committee argues that these actions represent a dangerous diversion of federal transportation resources that should have been focused on aviation safety and infrastructure.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, stated that the report demonstrates how the Biden administration used transportation agencies to further immigration policies at the expense of public safety. He said, This report exposes how the Biden Department of Transportation conspired with local leaders in New York, Boston, and Chicago to house migrants in airport facilities at taxpayer expense.
Cruz added, Their decisions, to transport illegal aliens through airports without identity checks, even those with felonies, shows in new detail how Bidens open border policy co-opted government agencies to put American citizens at risk.
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