A group of Senate Republicans recently introduced the Strengthening Enforcement to Curtail Unlawful, Risky Entrance to Flights Act, or SECURE Flights Act of 2022.
The bill, if passed, would prevent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) from allowing illegal aliens to use immigration enforcement documents, such as arrest warrants, as identification when boarding commercial flights, according to a press release by one of the bill’s authors – Senator Jim Risch (R-ID).
“Under the Biden administration, illegal immigrants can present an arrest warrant as a valid form of ID to board a plane,” Senator Risch said in a statement. “There is no question this policy tramples U.S. immigration law and threatens our national security. The Department of Homeland Security needs to reverse course now and put the safety and security of Idahoans and all Americans first.”
Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the bill alongside Senator Risch. Additional co-sponsors of the bill include U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Braun (R-IN), John Boozman (R-AK), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
The Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively reported that TSA Administrator David Pekoske disclosed to Republican Texas Representative Lance Gooden’s office on January 7th that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “Warrant for Arrest of Alien” could be used by migrants as an alternate form of identification at airport security.
Since the revelation, a number of Republican lawmakers have taken action against the policy. For example, as reported by The Daily Caller, Republican Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Jan. 27 demanding that he stop allowing illegal migrants to travel through U.S. airports over the policy permitting them to use arrest warrants as identification. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has also sent a letter to Mayorkas regarding the policy and, in late January, a separate groups of Republican lawmakers demanded the Biden administration answer questions regarding the policy
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Airport Security” by Frankieleon CC2.0
