cbn42

How would you track them down? TSA does not record ID information at the checkpoint. All the TSA does is verify that the name on the boarding pass matches the ID. The other information provided to the airline could still be inaccurate.

Even if you could, what difference would it make to find them after the fact? Other passengers would already be infected.

Blogndog

Having a little trouble with your chain of logic here -- you appear to be suggesting that someone who doesn't see a problem with applying the same rules to undocumented persons as apply to everyone else, (i.e., if you do not have an ID, there is a procedure to allow you to board a plane anyway, and therefore not interfere with anyone's constitutionally-protected right to travel) would somehow be content to sit next to a sick person on a plane.

The equal protection clause of course prevents the government from discriminating against any group of people, and certainly not on the basis of the possession of an identity document. Courts have agreed that travel is a form of free assembly, and therefore the government cannot restrict travel. There is not only nothing wrong with any particular individual flying without ID, it would in fact be grounds for a lawsuit if the government tried to act otherwise.

The suggestion that there is some correlation between the status of your documentation and being a disease vector is so obviously ludicrous that a response is not warranted.

Finally, of course, there is no such thing as an "illegal alien". A law cannot make a person illegal.

Hyperacusis

Wait, a person's immigration status now makes them more or less susceptible to certain diseases?

Medical breakthrough on FT! Call the CDC and AMA immediately!

WilcoRoger

The linked article quotes someone, who says they are also terrorists... 9/11 perpetrators had all perfectly clean immigration status, IIRC

GUWonder

All of the 9/11 perpetrators had been admitted into the US by what is now CBP at US Ports of Entry -- repeatedly admittedly in some cases. That said, at least some of them had committed visa fraud or otherwise violated the terms of their visa.

ND Sol

The TSA has stated that if you do not cooperate with them in ascertaining your identity, they have cause to deny your access airside.

"Illegal alien" is the term used in the statutes.

NoMoreFlying

Doesn't make the term accurate.

I suspect there are other statutes on the books that use derogatory terms for other races, religions, etc. Would you use those terms because they are in statute?

Hyperacusis

Where, and in what context? I am genuinely curious because it is an ambiguous term that could mean any number of things.

The term 'alien' is indeed used to refer to non-US citizens. And 'unlawful presence', 'out of status' and 'entry without inspection' are some terms used to refer to those non-citizens within the US that are in violation of immigration law, and may be in the US illegally. 'Illegal alien', as far as I know, is a colloquial term now more commonly used by those on the right to refer to undocumented immigrants in a derogatory way, and isn't generally used in a legal context.

And of course, NoMoreFlying is correct in that various statutes do indeed use derogatory terms that most of us would be incredibly uncomfortable using.

cbn42

Visa fraud or violation of terms of your visa is not generally grounds to be denied boarding by the TSA.

SeriouslyLost

Just as an aside, there actually is a correlation between immigration status and general health. Lawful immigrants in the US tend to be overall healthier than the general US population.

But the reason for that is very simple: most visa categories have to meet a certain standard during the health screening part of the visa process. So you're not coming to the US (as a lawful immigrant) if you fall below the required level of health.

The funny (funny sad, not funny haha) is that their health generally falls once they arrive in the US...

Ari

True, although it is an annoyingly imprecise term. Removable alien, unauthorized alien and other terms are a little more precise. Illegal alien is colloquial and isn't a term that comes up in court very much outside of SB1070 litigation.

ND Sol

Would you care to provide specifics of such in the U.S.C. and then we can discuss. So it is not PC, it is "derogatory" and it is not "accurate" to use the term when talking about the law when that is a term used therein? I guess Dictionary.com, for example, needs to note such.

I will show you a quick place where you can then click on the links therein to see how it is used.


Would you care to provide specifics of such in the U.S.C.?

Blogndog

The thread isn't about unco-operative people being permitted to fly, the thread is about people without ID being permitted to fly.

ND Sol

But how can a person with just an I-862 that has just come into the country without the legal paperwork to do so and "without ID" be able to cooperate as what database that the US has to verify identity work? ("unco-operative" - was that a Freudian slip? )

Hyperacusis

I remember reading an article to exactly this effect a couple of years ago. Not surprised if I'm honest.

Side note, it is actually immigrant visas and only certain non-immigrants (such as fiancé visas) that undergo medical screening. Other long-term non-immigrants such as students or H-1B workers don't do this. But the point still stands.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/rosas-l...ory?id=9109319

There are any number of additional examples if you were to search. As for Dictionary.com - I can't speak to how they operate or why they define things in certain ways, but I can tell you that the term is indeed increasingly considered derogatory in a way it was not even a few years ago, especially by the undocumented population.

This is irrelevant since the TSA does not corroborate ID information with any sort of database. It only does so with Secure Flight information, which is itself not corroborated against the ID displayed.

But in the hypothetical scenario that TSA did so.... an I-862 can and is issued to any number of immigrants, not just those who entered without inspection, and often includes those who have entered legally. In many such cases (I suspect the vast majority, given the data required to issue an I-862 in the first place), there is extensive information about such immigrants in USCIS databases. ICE chooses to actively arrest and remove only a certain number of these cases (specifically those who have committed crimes), simply because of the resources available.

I would venture that an immigrant with an I-862 is a lot more easily "identifiable" through databases and so forth than somebody who gets through TSA with nothing more than a Costco card, Library card or other non-approved ID. But again, TSA doesn't check your ID against a database so this is moot.