After immense scrutiny, the TSA appeared to reverse a policy that seemingly gave illegal aliens greater liberty than American citizens.
With estimates surpassing 8 million illegal entries, a considerable number of which have led directly to the deaths of men, women and children, President Joe Biden’s handling of the border has been one bungle after another. Now it seemed that the managed decline had taken a backseat to PR damage control as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) updated the ID requirements of foreign nationals flying domestically.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, the agency of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained that it now requires illegals without proper identification to submit to a facial recognition scan to verify who they say they are matches official records.
Noting that the statement indicated “all” adults, the report detailed that TSA required travelers, “including noncitizens released after undergoing security vetting into the United States to await immigration proceedings, must present an acceptable form of ID to enter secure areas of an airport for onward travel.”
“If a noncitizen released after undergoing security vetting into the United States does not have an acceptable form of ID, they must submit to additional screening and facial recognition technology to verify the traveler’s identity using DHS records,” read the statement.
Additionally, the agency contended that the update was not a response to any specific security threat and noted, “If TSA cannot match their identity to DHS records, they will also be denied entry into the secure areas of the airport and will be denied boarding.”
In January, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) had demanded an explanation from TSA administrator David Pekoske after the apparent “special privileges to illegal immigrants” had circulated social media detailing the apparent pass on proper IDs, allowing civil arrest warrants and deportation orders to suffice without photo verification.
Seeking answers no later than Feb. 15, the senator wrote, “This practice not only undermines the rule of law but also raises significant security concerns for commercial airflight…If this report is accurate, this is outrageous.”
‘Raises significant security concerns’: Hawley hammers TSA over ‘special privileges to illegal immigrants’ https://t.co/GPmtKMFdDM via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) January 20, 2024
In the days leading up to the agency’s statement on the policy, Utah Sen. Mike Lee had taken to X and indicated, “Maybe it’s a coincidence. Or not. Impossible to know,” after he found himself “randomly selected” for a thorough TSA screening and patdown only days after calling for the agency to be abolished.
He’d gone on to add on social media, “TSA pats Americans down, but lets illegal aliens fly into and around the country just because they have the ‘CBPone’ app on their phone–or a notice to appear in immigration court.”
TSA pats Americans down, but lets illegal aliens fly into and around the country just because they have the “CBPone” app on their phone—or a notice to appear in immigration court. https://t.co/xf5Nv3P4oM
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 15, 2024
The lawmaker’s personal complaints happened to follow a report from Florida’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd as he detailed a human trafficking sting that landed nearly 230 arrests. Those numbers included several women who had told his office that they had been flying around the country for their sex trade at taxpayers’ expense.
“They said that when they came into the country illegally, DHS gave them a form, an ID, paperwork that allows them to fly for free. You know, Southwest would let your bags fly free. Well,” said Judd, “the federal government will let your illegal immigrants fly free.”
Further concerns had been raised after the administration admitted that in 2023, they had flown 320,000 foreign nationals into the country through the CBP One app as a means to keep the number of encounters at the border down, leading billionaire Elon Musk to conclude, “It s highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11. Just a matter of time.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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