A comprehensive Senate report has accused the Biden administration of pressuring U.S. airports to house migrants, raising concerns about traveler safety. The 47-page document, titled ‘Flight Risk,’ was released by the Senate Commerce Committee and alleges that the administration directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) and other agencies to locate airport facilities for migrant shelters or processing centers, despite warnings about security risks.
According to the report, the administration instructed the DOT and FAA to ‘inventory available facilities’ at both federally owned and local airports, and to ‘divert federal resources’ to support migrant arrivals. Internal emails cited in the report show concern among staff, with one FAA official writing to Massport about a ‘request from the WH’ to determine available facilities. Another DOT staffer responded candidly: ‘Yikes, this is definitely Fox News fodder in the making.’
The report highlights that at least 11 airports, including Boston Logan, Chicago O’Hare, and New York’s JFK, were asked or even pressured to house migrants inside terminals, hangars, or auxiliary buildings. Despite warnings from Massport about the unintended safety and security consequences, the report states that Logan hosted up to 352 migrants overnight in Terminal E, spending $779,000 on security, cleaning, and transportation.
Other airports, like Chicago’s O’Hare, sheltered as many as 900 migrants in a shuttle terminal. Between April 2023 and February 2024, the report says police logged 329 service calls and 26 arrests, including thefts, disorderly conduct, and a death investigation. The report also highlights a security breach at JFK Airport involving Kleber Loor-Ponce, an Ecuadorian alien who allegedly bypassed security and was found with a box cutter and scissors.
The committee found that these directives reflected a ‘dangerous diversion’ of federal transportation resources. Sen. Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, stated that the report ‘exposes how the Biden Department of Transportation conspired with local leaders in New York, Boston, and Chicago to house migrants in airport facilities at taxpayer expense,’ emphasizing the risk to American citizens.