While Americans travelling on business or for pleasure routinely endure lengthy lines for multiple identification checks at airports before boarding their flights, Joe Biden and his pro-open borders Democrat allies are allowing illegal aliens to board those same aircraft with no ID.
As our friend Stephen Dinan explained in an article for The Washington Times, under the Biden administration, the Transportation Security Administration has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to board using the documents they are given in the catch-and-release process — documents that critics say are far less secure than the passports and driver’s licenses Americans are asked to show.
Republicans have introduced legislation designed to block migrants from boarding planes unless they have a more secure identification such as their home country passport.
A bill written by Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, would bar migrants from using for boarding identification a Notice to Appear, which is an immigration court summons; a Notice to Report, which is a future check-in date with ICE; or a parole document, which is a temporary pass to be in the U.S.
Many illegal aliens arriving at the border want to get deeper into the U.S., allegedly to meet up with family or look for work, but many disappear into the criminal underworld or possibly connect with enemy intelligence operations. Some take buses or pay for a ride but many hop on a plane, aided by Homeland Security’s policies.
As things stand now, illegal aliens can claim whatever identity they want at the border and — unless their fingerprints match a crime already committed in the U.S. — that’s the identity the government assigns them on the catch-and-release documents.
“There is no process for verifying that the name they provide is their actual name, or that they do not have a criminal record in their home country,” said the Immigration Accountability Project, which is leading the letter joined by other immigration groups and high-profile experts such as Mark Morgan, former acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, and Thomas Homan, former acting director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Now a coalition of conservative organizations and activists has come together to demand that Congress attach the VALID Act to the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.
By allowing illegal aliens and parolees to board aircraft based only on the information they entered into the CBP-One app or that an overworked Border Patrol agent filled in on a Notice to Appear (NTA) or a Notice to Report (NTR), air carriers and the Department of Homeland Security are putting all their other passengers at risk. This is especially concerning when FBI Director Christopher Wray is warning of a significantly elevated threat from foreign terrorist organizations, and the Department of Homeland Security is admitting that record numbers of known terrorists have crossed the southern border.
For this reason, the coalition members urge Congress to include S. 4051, the Verifying that all Aliens have Legitimate Identification Documents Act (the VALID Act) in the legislation to reauthorize the FAA. The VALID Act closes this dangerous loophole by prohibiting air carriers and the Department of Homeland Security from accepting the CBP-One app, NTAs, or NTRs to board aircraft traveling to or within the United States.
Rosemary Jenks Co-founder, Immigration Accountability Project
Thomas Homan Retired Acting ICE Director, Homeland Strategic Consulting LLC
Mark Morgan Former Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation
Kristen A. Ullman President, Eagle Forum
Jenny Beth Martin Honorary Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Action
George K. Rasley, Jr. Managing Editor, ConservativeHQ.com
RJ Hauman President, National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE)
Ron Armstrong President, Stand Up Michigan
J. Michael Waller Senior Analyst for Strategy, Center for Security Policy
Clare Lopez Founder/President, Lopez Liberty LLC
James Massa CEO, NumbersUSA
Julie Kirschner Executive Director, Federation for American Immigration Reform
D. Brian Zimmer President, Keeping Identities Safe, Inc.
Theodore Wold Director, Administrative State Project, Claremont Institute
S. R. HankinsonU.S. Consular Officer (retired)
Sheryl Kaufman
Barbara Ledeen
2024 Election
Donald Trump campaign
illegal immigration
Illegal aliens fly no ID
identification documents
Senator Mike Lee
Department of Homeland Security
Verifying illegal immigrants ID
VALID Act
S. 4051
CBP-One app
NTAs
NTRs