Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) interrogated Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske for allowing illegal migrants to use arrest warrants as a form of identification when flying across the country.
During Pekoske's confirmation hearing, he was questioned on the agency's policy that permits civil "warrants" issued for immigration violations to be used as identification needed to board a flight, according to a letter.
Pekoske said that under 1,000 migrants have used civil arrest warrants or deportation notices as identification at airports.
In response, Hawley asked for a reason for dismissing the legal status of migrants when screening migrants through TSA.
"So we aren't looking at whether a person is legal or illegal in the country," Pekoske told Hawley, adding, "Because our role is to make sure that people that might pose a risk to transportation that's significant enough to either require enhanced screening or to not allow them to fly."
Hawley continued to question whether Pekoske is at all concerned about the person's security after confirming his position of "someone who is known to have violated the laws of the United States."
Pekoske got defensive claiming that travelers who have broken U.S. laws fly every day but that the agency looks at what relates to transportation security.
However, Peksoke asserted that the TSA properly screens migrants for national security threats.
"And you don't think someone who is, by definition, somebody who presents a warrant for arrest, you don't think that that necessitates screening?" Hawley said, continuing to grill Pekoske.
Following the hearing, Hawley made a good point for legal, law-abiding U.S. citizens to think about the next time they are waiting in line at the airport.
The head of TSA admits the Biden Administration has let nearly 1000 illegal aliens use arrest warrants as ID to get on planes this year. Think about that while you wait in line at the airport pic.twitter.com/rNIiGa8yBu
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 21, 2022