By M.D. Kittle
MADISON — As insane as it sounds, President Joe Biden’s Transportation Security Administration allows illegal immigrants to use arrest warrants as a form of identification to board flights.
Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson wants that practice to end.
The Oshkosh Republican joined U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio last week in introducing legislation that would prohibit the administrator of the TSA from accepting arrest warrants as valid proof of identification at airport security checkpoints and for other purposes.
The senators introduced the bill after TSA confirmed its use of arrest warrants, issued by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to help prove the identity of unlawful migrants for travel by air.
“I am happy to introduce legislation that will aid in securing our border and help stop President Biden’s disastrous open border policies. The Biden administration’s disregard for the rule of law knows no bounds,” Johnson said. “Since the president took office a year ago, we have seen at least 2.4 million people enter this country illegally. For DHS and TSA to allow known criminals who possess an arrest warrant to fly on U.S. aircraft threatens our homeland security.”
The agency told Fox News last month that “non-citizens” and non-U.S. nationals “who do not otherwise have acceptable forms of ID” at security checkpoints may use a Warrant for Arrest of an Alien.
As Fox News noted, the use of arrest warrants as ID, reported by The Daily Caller, came in response to a congressional query by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, who has been investigating the process by which migrants are brought into the country.
“In November, Gooden’s office received a packet given to migrants via a whistleblower. That packet included flight information, copies of the Notice to Appear from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a list of pro bono legal service providers, maps of major cities in the U.S. and information and legal assistance in Spanish.”
The senators’ bill follows the recent release of bodycam footage showing federal contractors dropping off migrants in the middle of the night last summer at the Westchester County Airport. Empower Wisconsin is investigating whether such practices are going on in Wisconsin.
“It is concerning that DHS and TSA are allowing individuals to fly on U.S. aircraft based on unverified personal data provided to CBP or ICE when these people crossed the border unlawfully. This policy is a national security threat and should be revoked as quickly as possible,” Portman said. “It is policies like these from the Biden administration that give the green light to human smugglers and drug traffickers that they can unlawfully enter our country.”
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