(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A conservative legal group has launched a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the federal government over accusations that TSA is improperly vetting illegal aliens who lack passports or other valid forms of identification.
America First Legal sent a five-page letter to the DHS, requesting records showing the monthly count of illegal aliens boarding airplanes from fiscal year 2021 to the present date. The letter also seeks documents regarding the total number of individuals allowed to board planes using so-called “acceptable alternative identification.”
/1✈️THREAD — Over the holiday travel season, @stclairashley @BillMelugin_ and others witnessed multitudes of illegal aliens traveling through airports and boarding flights across the country.
We just launched an investigation into TSA’s vetting of these illegal aliens… pic.twitter.com/8TpWpCUgCk
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) January 5, 2024
Additionally, AFL is seeking documents outlining potential security risks associated with the use of “acceptable alternative identification.” The requested documents include keywords such as: “acceptable alternate identification,” “acceptable alternative identification,” “CBP One” or “NO NAME GIVEN.”
AFL’s document lawsuit stems from allegations raised by conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair and Fox News border correspondent Bill Melugin, accusing the DHS, which oversees TSA, of allowing illegal aliens to board flights without the required documents, unlike regular Americans.
Reed Rubinstein, AFL’s director of oversight and investigations, expressed concern in reaction to the accusations.
“Even as American citizens and law-abiding immigrants were forced to suffer the indignities and inconvenience of Christmas-season travel at our airports, it seems DHS went out of its way to ensure illegal ‘migrants’ received preferential treatment,” he said in a press release.
He added, “Unfortunately, this was simply the most recent assault on the rule of law and American sovereignty by the Biden Administration and its allied network of ‘charities’ and businesses that profit from mass illegal immigration.”
In a now-viral video, St. Clair accused Delta Airlines of allowing illegal aliens to board flights bound for New York. Although U.S. citizenship or legal residency is not required to board flights, the main concern was that these recently arrived illegal aliens lacked foreign passports.
My @Delta flight from Phoenix appears to be flying migrants who crossed the border and are being shipped to New York
When I asked a Delta representative if this was the case, his response was “What does it matter, they’re humans too”
What is happening???? pic.twitter.com/zew340d6u2
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) December 19, 2023
Melugin, known for sharing numerous viral border videos, revealed that TSA displayed a sign that read, “Non-US Citizens Without Passwords Only Enter Here.”
He specifically said: “Flying out of Tucson airport tonight and the terminal is full of illegal immigrants released into the US with their DHS paperwork. Airport personnel are directing them into a specific ‘immigration line’ at security while all other passengers go thru [sic] regular line. I likely saw some of these people crossing illegally in Lukeville [Arizona] this week.”
This was the sign at the “immigration line” I saw at Tucson airport last night where airport personnel were directing illegal immigrants who had been released w/ their DHS paperwork. Non citizens w/ no passports only. This was at TSA security for domestic flight – not at customs,… pic.twitter.com/H2SPYxHU9j
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 23, 2023
These accusations prompted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to issue a stern warning to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “In effect, TSA is applying one standard for verifying the identities of American citizens, and another, weaker standard for ‘verifying’ the identities of illegal aliens. This is alarming,” Cruz wrote in a letter to Mayorkas.
Similarly, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., issued a letter to Delta CEO over the accusations. “How many non-resident aliens has Delta airlines transported on behalf of nongovernmental organizations since January 20, 2021?” Gaetz questioned in the Dec. 22 letter.
