Posted on 12/20/2009 11:28:08 AM PST by Beaten Valve
In the latest of many shameful lapses, the federal agency in charge of securing the nation’s transportation system approved background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport.
The illegal aliens, from Central America and Mexico, worked in operational areas of Stewart International Airport, a 2,400-acre facility located about 60 miles north of New York City. Stewart is a major passenger airport for the state’s mid-Hudson region that also handles large quantities of cargo and serves as a military field.
The illegal aliens all had security badges approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency created after the 2001 terrorist attacks mainly to protect airlines. The TSA’s national background check failed to detect the fake Social Security numbers and other bogus documents provided by the illegal immigrants to obtain clearance.
So the embattled 43,000-member Homeland Security agency, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars from Congress to fulfill its mission, granted the undocumented aliens “trusted agent” security badges. This allowed them to work at an airport warehouse business and access key operational areas. An alert airport employee noticed the suspicious documents and reported the illegal aliens.
This sort of negligence is par for the course for the TSA, which has come under fire in recent years for leaving airplanes extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Just last month the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General revealed that the TSA is failing to ensure the security of tens of thousands of cargo packages transported daily in the bellies of passenger planes, leaving aircraft at risk of a terrorist attack.
That probe also found that workers who handle the cargo had not received the required background checks or training, further adding to the security crisis. Previous Inspector General probes have over the years revealed similar problems in the TSA’s dismal air cargo security system and exposed dozens of security failures in other crucial areas nationwide.
Airline security in this country has completly broken down..
Illegals! I’ve had (above) Secret before .. I need a decent job ... I demand a position with the TSA ... with plenty of overtime!
Its not like there are any unemployed American citizens
What’s the big deal? Their papers are in the pipline. Wait a few months...
As if we don’t have enough unemployed citizens to fill the slots. How many illegal alien jihadis can we employ in our new health care system?
PelosiReidObamaCare will be run mech better, though. They’ll only ask you to take off your shoes during a cardiac arrest.
You just can’t make this stuff up. That’s 0bama’s America for ya.
Stories like this make me want to just throw in the towel.
When we have a closet homosexual cocaine freak in the White House ....this happens.
Why do we need a TSA at all? Apparently after they easily board our planes, the ragheads appear able to raise hell, and not only will they be permitted to reboard a crying plane after the most perfunctory intervention, but also our media will cover it up for them...
*Illegal Security ping*
The feds WANT as many unemployed American citizens as possible.
“The feds WANT as many unemployed American citizens as possible.”
Importing poverty is no accident, you’re correct. Poor people are easier to control with the carrot of ‘government aid’ hanging in front of them. Especially when they come from 3rd world socialist hell holes, like Mexico.
Does this mean the feds will fine themselves?
I tried about a year ago, didn't seem to make the grade, what with a misdemeanor conviction from 1982. Said I was too much of a risk. They may have been right, I am one hell of a risk to the government now!
I flew AA out of here years ago. The flight I was on was loaded with West Point cadets. Is this still a main airport for West Point?
I noted that there were so many non-english speaking plane cleaners working that there had to be illegals in the crews.
They are all supposed to have TSA badges to clean the planes..my guess is that they use other peoples badges, since they all look alike to the TSA.
Hundreds rally for immigration reform
by David Frey, Aspen Daily News Correspondent
Saturday, December 19, 2009
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Hundreds of immigration reform advocates gathered with candles and signs at Sayre Park on Friday night chanting “Sí se puede!” or “Yes we can!” as organizers urged them to call legislators and the White House to press for a new bill that would give illegal immigrants a path to legal status.
“This is exactly what this state needs to see,” said Julie Gonzalez, a Denver-based organizer with the Reform Immigration for America Campaign, looking out on a crowd of over 200 people, mostly Latinos, who turned out for the vigil. “[It needs to] see the depth and breadth that exists in this state for immigration reform.”
The vigil marked the International Day of the Migrant, a day recognizing migration around the world. It was one of 10 rallies taking place across Colorado on Friday in support of an immigration reform bill that in addition to providing a path to legal residency seeks to unite families divided by the border.
“It’s time for us to be organized,” said Veronica Felix, a Roaring Fork Valley organizer with Congregations and Schools Empowered, which helped sponsor the Glenwood vigil. “It’s time for us to be united. It’s time for us to have a merry Christmas together.”
Organizers are backing a bill submitted to Congress on Tuesday by Rep. Luis Guiterrez, D-Ill. His bill received 70 co-sponsors, including Colorado Reps. John Salazar, Diana DeGette, Jared Polis and Ed Perlmutter, all Democrats.
“These comprehensive immigration reforms are much-needed to fix our broken immigration system,” DeGette said in a press release. “This bill includes the common-sense solutions that will move our immigration system towards a humane approach that will help build our economy, protect children and families, and provide for effective enforcement.”
The vigil was one of 10 taking place across Colorado on Friday, including five in Ski Country, where organizers say activists are becoming more involved because of the critical role they say immigration plays in the ski industry.
Heather Rousseau/Aspen Daily News
Over 200 people came out Friday night to advocate for immigration reform in Glenwood Springs. The demonstration was part of a larger nationwide effort to draw attention to the issue.
“This is the first time Colorado’s ski towns — immigrants and allies alike — are getting in on the discussion,” said Brendan Greene, a community organizer with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which organized the statewide vigils.
In addition to Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Montrose and Grand Junction, vigils took place in the high country at Dillon, Avon, Glenwood Springs, Gunnison and Telluride.
“The ski industry is Colorado’s second-largest sector,” said CIRC spokeswoman Chandra Russo. “It’s a $3 million industry, and we really see immigrants as the backbone of the industry.”
For a Latino community often seen as living in the shadows of the Roaring Fork Valley, participants in the rally were visible and vocal on a cold Friday night, with steam escaping from their lips as they chanted. Many carried religious votives. Some carried signs in Spanish and English with messages like “Please America, open your heart” and “It’s Time.”
On the edge of the park, about a half-dozen protesters carried signs opposing immigration reform. One read, “Deport wetbacks.” Another read “Stop the invasion.”
“If this is going to continue, the white man is going to have to go to Canada,” said a man who identified himself only as Tom and said he lived in Glenwood Springs.
Another man, who identified himself only as Rusty and described himself as an out-of-work welder living in DeBeque, said he believed immigrants were responsible for lowering wages and taking away jobs from citizens. He said he opposed allowing immigrants who broke the law to become legal residents.
“I did my time,” he said. “Why give a criminal a break? If I was brown, I’d get a break.”
Cell phones glowed alongside candles as Gonzalez called on the crowd to dial the White House and urge President Barack Obama to follow through on his campaign pledge supporting immigration reform.
“We have the opportunity to change our lives,” she said. “We have the power to change our communities. We have the power to change the economy of this country.”
Rifle organizer Jorge Flores said immigration reform would have a big impact on area immigrants, many of whom are unable to buy homes because of their status and have families that they can’t visit.
“The candles, the light, is the path we want to create,” he said, “so maybe Washington can see.”
http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/138229
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