TSA air marshals too busy targeting Jan. 6, terror suspects to police migrants flying around US without IDs: sources
US air marshals are so distracted tracking Jan. 6 suspects and other domestic threats that they are not devoting enough resources to policing the thousands of migrants flying around the country without IDs, sources say.
A TSA employee told The Post that Americans “should feel horrible” and “threatened” about the terrifying situation.
“None of the people that are coming through the border who are getting flight tickets are getting vetted by hardly any manner,’’ while US citizens are being forced to tightly adhere to airport security’s stringent ID requirements, the source said.
Meanwhile, federal air marshals have orders to focus their attention on targets of the Transportation Security Administration’s “Quiet Skies Program,” including suspected terrorists and, in recent years, individuals who took part in the Jan. 6 riots at the US Capitol, sources said.
“We’re scrutinizing our own people and letting other countries, other nationalities just come and do whatever they want to in our country. And Air Marshals aren’t getting put on those flights,” the source explained.
“I think the risk is them being able to overpower and take control of any flight they want to take control of.”
A TSA rep told The Post that migrants who don’t have IDs undergo additional screening and facial recognition technology.
But sources poured cold water on that, saying that if migrants don’t have criminal records in the US or international warrants from cooperative countries, security officials are forced to take them at their word.
The migrants simply use their border release paperwork as IDs, sources said.
The deeply disturbing situation has come under the scrutiny of lawmakers such as Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who probed the TSA after hearing Trump-supporting former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was said to be surveilled under the initiative.
Burchett told The Post that the TSA’s priorities are backwards for targeting “political enemies of this White House” rather than the thousands of migrants flying without IDs.
“The TSA, in my opinion, is lackluster at best concerning this issue,” Burchett said.
“When citizens are forced to jump through multiple hoops, we are allowing unvetted people, and now we understand people on the terrorist watch list, to go through these checkpoints. We do not know [who] these people are. And they’re delivering them all over the country,” the congressman said.
Sonya LaBosco, director of the Air Marshal National Council, also expressed concern about the in-flight security risk posed by thousands of migrants boarding planes without IDs, making the damning assertion that TSA doesn’t “even care who’s getting on these planes.
“With these transnational criminal organizations, Tren de Aragua, for example, those are the same type of individuals that we’re allowing to come through the country with no ID, they’re coming here and committing crimes,’’ LaBosco said.
But the TSA maintained that migrants are properly screened at the border and beyond.
“DHS remains committed to ensuring that noncitizens in the United States do not represent threats to national security or public safety while complying with applicable laws and policies,” a TSA representative told The Post.
“DHS conducts screening and vetting on individuals encountered at the border to identify national security or public safety threats. We continually monitor available sources of intelligence and law enforcement information to identify threats and public safety risks,’’ the rep said.
“If and when any new information emerges, DHS works closely with the FBI and other partners to take appropriate action.”
The fresh scrutiny of TSA’s priorities follows a scathing new report by the Homeland Security inspector general that claimed “high risk” migrants were allowed to enter the US at the border without proper ID and now freely roam the country.
Many of them were trusted to provide their information through US Customs and Border Protection’s controversial CBP One app, which enables them to board domestic flights with virtually no restrictions.
“TSA’s vetting and screening procedures do not eliminate the risk that noncitizens who may pose a threat to fellow passengers could board domestic flights,” the report said.
“Under current processes, [Customs and Border Protection] and [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] cannot ensure they are keeping high-risk noncitizens without identification from entering the country.”
The TSA responded to the report by saying it “contains inaccurate statements, lacks important context, and is misleading about the Department’s efforts to verify the identity of noncitizens seeking entry into the United States and screening noncitizens flying domestically.
“OIG’s report also does not reflect policy and procedural updates DHS implemented this year to improve security in accordance with TSA’s normal risk assessment process,” the TSA representative said.
The developments emerged one day after DHS warned that the threat environment in the US will “remain high” in the coming year, with migrants with “terrorism ties” contributing to the elevated level.
