GOP senators introduce bill to prevent TSA from accepting arrest warrants as valid forms of ID

TSA allowing migrants to use arrest warrants as a form of ID is ‘totally crazy’: Lance Gooden

The Texas congressman discusses the guidance from TSA and the Biden administration’s handling of the border.

Republican Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have introduced legislation to prevent the Transportation Security Administration from accepting arrest warrants as valid forms of identification, a method the agency was using to identify illegal immigrants traveling by air.

The measure, dubbed the Prohibiting the Use of Arrest Warrants for Identification at Security Check-points Act of 2022, states that TSA “may not accept a prohibited document as valid proof of identification or as an acceptable alternate identification at an airport security checkpoint,” with the exception being the removal of “an alien who is being removed from the United States in accordance with the immigration laws.”

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, questions Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas during his confirmation hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021.
((Bill Clark/Pool via AP))

“It is concerning that DHS and TSA are allowing individuals to fly on U.S. aircraft based on unverified personal data provided to CBP or ICE when these people crossed the border unlawfully,” Portman said in a statement released by his office. “This policy is a national security threat and should be revoked as quickly as possible.”

Portman concluded that it “is policies like these from the Biden administration that give the green light to human smugglers and drug traffickers that they can unlawfully enter our country.”

Echoing Portman’s sentiment, Johnson said in a statement that the legislation will provide “aid in securing our border and help stop President Biden’s disastrous open border policies.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks to journalists after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, outside the Presidential Office in Kiev, Ukraine, on 5 September, 2019.
((STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images))

“The Biden administration’s disregard for the rule of law knows no bounds,” Johnson said. “Since the president took office a year ago, we have seen at least 2.4 million people enter this country illegally. For DHS and TSA to allow known criminals who possess an arrest warrant to fly on U.S. aircraft threatens our homeland security. This out-of-control flow of illegal immigration that has created the crisis at the border is a direct result of the Biden administration’s policies.”

Last month, TSA confirmed to Fox News that it allows illegal immigrants to use arrest warrants as an alternative form of ID in order to board airplanes.

“For non-citizens and non-U.S. nationals who do not otherwise have acceptable forms of ID for presentation at security checkpoints, TSA may also accept certain DHS-issued forms, including ICE Form I-200 (Warrant for Arrest of an Alien),” a TSA spokesperson told Fox News. That refers to a civil immigration arrest warrant, not a criminal arrest warrant.

Homeland Security sign for REAL ID at entrance to passenger TSA security area, West Palm Beach, Florida.
((Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))

The agency added that the document will then be validated via an “alien identification number” being checked against a number of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) databases. 

“All passengers whose identity is verified through alternate procedures receive additional screening before being allowed into the secure area of the airport,” the statement said.

The use of arrest warrants as ID, reported by The Daily Caller, came in response to a congressional query from Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, who has been investigating the process by which migrants are brought into the country.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this article.

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