TSA Responds to Illegal Immigrant Flight Controversy

The controversy stems from a July article on Breitbart.com claiming illegal immigrants are flying in the U.S. with only a Notice to Appear document.

In response to a controversy over whether or not the Transportation Security Administration is allowing illegal immigrants in Texas to fly commercially without the proper identification, TSA spokesperson Ross Feinstein tells FlyerTalk, “If a foreign national has a passport, but is in the country illegally, we will just verify their ID matches their boarding pass. Per the law, we are here to ensure travelers on the no-fly list don’t get on an aircraft.”

Questions on the matter have been circulating since the publishing of a Breitbart.com article in July, which made the accusations against the TSA. The controversy continued when the Gateway Pundit published a letter late last week from TSA Director John Pistole under the headline TSA Misled: Letter Confirms Illegals Allowed to Fly without ID, Just ‘Notice to Appear’.

In the initial article filed by Brandon Darby on Breitbart.com on July 11, the TSA was accused of allowing illegal immigrants to fly with only a Notice to Appear, or form I-862, issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The accusations were initially made by the National Border Patrol Council, Local 2455 in McAllen, Texas.

Feinstein immediately denied the allegations, writing on Twitter, “Story on @TSA is completely wrong. Never contacted us for a statement and/or info. before publishing story.”

Last week, the Gateway Pundit published an August 7 letter from Pistole in response to a request by Texas congressman Kenny Marchant. The letter outlined the TSA’s procedures for processing passengers who do not have the proper identification for commercial travel, whether they are illegal immigrants or U.S. citizens who have lost their IDs. The letter detailed the various scenarios that can arise when a passenger fails to produce documents approved by the TSA for travel.

“Travel document checking is one of the multiple security layers TSA uses in conducting screening operations and is performed to make sure that an individual attempting to enter the screening checkpoint has undergone watch list matching,” Pistole stated in the letter. “When checking travel documents, Transportation Security Officers request and inspect identification which TSA has determined to be acceptable to verify identity. Examples of acceptable identification are drivers’ licenses, passports and identification cards issued to Members of Congress. The name on the identification must be the same as the name on the boarding pass to conclude that watch list matching has occurred.”

The letter goes on to outline other forms of identification that can be used, and the additional security used in verifying identity. For example, a passenger may submit “two additional forms of identification, one which must contain the individual’s name and other identifying information, such as photo, address, phone number, social security number or date of birth.”

If the passenger only has the I-862 form, TSA then cross checks the passenger against a variety of systems and partner components including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In both cases, the passenger will undergo additional screening before being allowed in to the sterile, or secure gate areas.

When asked for further comment, Feinstein told us that the agency feels the letter has fully addressed the issue.

Correction: The correct name of the town is McAllen, Texas. An earlier version stated it was McCallen.

[Photo: iStock]