FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., is introducing the Senate version of a bill barring illegal immigrants from showing arrest warrants to board planes.
Fox News Digital first obtained a news release from Daines detailing the plan to drop the bill, the Crime Doesn’t Fly Act, on Monday.
“It’s pretty simple – if an illegal immigrant presents their own arrest warrant as a form of ID, they should be immediately arrested, not cleared by TSA to hop on a plane in the United States,” Daines said.
Sen. Steve Daines speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Xavier Becerra to be secretary of Health and Human Services on Capitol Hill on Feb. 24, 2021.
(Michael Reynolds/Pool via AP)
“The fact this is even an issue is beyond outrageous,” Daines continued. “This is a threat to our national security and it must be stopped immediately.”
According to the release, the bill was introduced after Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) administrator David Pekoske confirmed the agency was accepting the arrest warrants to fly.
The legislation is a popular one for Republicans, having been introduced in the House by Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Rodney Davis of Illinois.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis speaks during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on Capitol Hill May 19, 2021.
(Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images)
The pair introduced the House version of the Crime Doesn’t Fly Act last week, which would prohibit TSA from allowing illegal immigrants to use civil immigration warrants as an alternative form of identification.
TSA confirmed to Fox last week that it is allowing the warrants, which represent civil immigration enforcement and are not criminal arrest warrants, as an alternative. The Daily Caller had first reported the TSA response to an inquiry on the matter by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas.
Migrants are seen at the Rio Grande near the Del Rio-Acuna Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 18, 2021.
(Charlie C. Peebles/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“For noncitizens 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.
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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 for personally identifiable information – including the CBP One mobile application and TSA’s National Transportation Vetting Center (NTVC).
“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. A TSA spokesperson stressed that the DHS-issued forms are civil immigration documents and not indicative of a public safety or national security threat.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed reporting.
