A new Senate report has accused the Biden administration of pressuring U.S. airports to house migrant populations in a manner that jeopardizes the safety of travelers and compromises airport security. The 47-page ‘Flight Risk’ report, released by the Senate Commerce Committee, alleges that the White House directed federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to use airport facilities as shelters or processing centers for migrants.
The report details how the administration instructed the DOT and FAA to ‘inventory available facilities’ at federally owned and local airports and to ‘divert federal resources’ to support migrant arrivals. Internal emails cited in the report show that staff expressed concerns over the potential safety risks and the implications for security. One FAA official wrote to Massport on Oct. 6, 2023, urging the agency to prioritize the immediate task of identifying available facilities for migrant housing.
The findings indicate that at least 11 airports, including Boston Logan, Chicago O’Hare, and New York’s JFK, were either pressured or asked to house migrants within their terminals, hangars, or auxiliary buildings. For instance, Boston Logan was reported to have accommodated up to 352 migrants overnight in Terminal E, incurring significant costs for security, cleaning, and transportation. Chicago officials acknowledged that ‘asylum seekers were not restricted to the staging area,’ highlighting the lack of control over the situation.
The report also cites a security breach at JFK Airport in 2024, where an Ecuadorian individual, Kleber Loor-Ponce, bypassed security and entered the secure area near runways. He was apprehended with items such as a box cutter and scissors on his person. Additionally, O’Hare Airport saw a range of incidents, including thefts, disorderly conduct, and a death investigation, with police logging 329 service calls and 26 arrests between April 2023 and February 2024.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, condemned the actions of the Biden administration, stating that the report revealed a ‘dangerous diversion’ of federal transportation resources. He argued that the administration’s open border policy led to the co-option of government agencies to place American citizens at risk by allowing improperly vetted individuals to travel through airports without proper identity checks.
The report further mentions that the FMCSA and FTA were directed to assist in other migrant-support operations, including producing a