The Air Marshal National Council Applauds House Introduction of Legislation to Ban Air Marshal Border Deployments

The Air Marshal National Council Applauds House Introduction of Legislation to Ban Air Marshal Border Deployments

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, USA, March 18, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA) introduced legislation² to put a stop to the reckless deployment of air marshals to our southern border. Transportation Security Administrator David Pekoske and Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) Director Brian Belcher have spearheaded a dubious program where hundreds of Federal Air Marshals are taken out of the air and sent to the southern border. Once at the border, Air Marshals are directed to perform humanitarian duties for illegal migrants. These duties include having the highly specialized counter terrorist agents handing out bottles of water and warming up sandwiches throughout the day.

The timing of these deployments couldn’t be worse. Recently, several former high ranking F.B.I. officials, to include our current F.B.I. Director, informed Congress that the threats to the homeland have never been greater, and they are unlike anything the country has seen before.

This is in combination with an increase in violent incidents onboard commercial aircraft over the last several months, Pekoske and Belcher are gambling with America’s aviation security. Congressional intervention is necessary to prevent a catastrophe.

Representative Hinson’s bill is a companion bill to one recently introduced in the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz. Senate Bill S.3808, introduced by Cruz on February 27, 2024, would prohibit the TSA Administrator from deploying air marshals to the border unless the Secretary of Homeland Security declares an emergency. The nation’s largest police association, the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO³) sent a letter to Cruz strongly endorsing this legislation. The NAPO letter states, “Many high-risk flights are going without air marshals at a time when there have been several in-air threats to planes. We strongly question why Federal Air Marshals are being diverted to the southern border, where no Federal emergency has been declared.”

This legislation comes as the Inspector General just finished an investigation into the cost and potential security concerns with the deployment of air marshals to the border. The Inspector General’s final report will soon be due.

Federal Air Marshals are extremely specialized federal law enforcement agents that deploy worldwide on aircraft to prevent criminal, terrorist, and hostile acts against America’s transportation systems. The Federal Air Marshal Service is one of the smallest federal law enforcement agencies in the federal government. To divert the very specialized resources for non-emergency humanitarian duties is completely unnecessary and represents a reckless abuse of authority.

The Air Marshal National Council (AMNC) looks forward to the passing of this very important legislation.

Gem Micheo
Federal Security Council
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¹ https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2024/2/with-flyer-rage-incidents-on-the-rise-sen-cruz-s-new-bill-puts-federal-air-marshals-back-in-the-sky
² https://hinson.house.gov/media/press-releases/hinson-bill-forces-biden-administration-keep-air-marshals-flights-instead
³ https://www.napo.org/washington-report/latest-news-updates/napo-supports-no-fams-border-act/