Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Republicans must lead the way in ending the Biden administration's "blatant mockery" of U.S. immigration law by allowing illegal migrants to fly the friendly skies with nothing more than an arrest warrant as identification.
Rubio is renewing his opposition toward the Transportation Safety Administration's now 2-year-old policy that allows illegal migtants to board U.S. flights despite no photo ID or verified information.
The policy is a "blatant mockery" of U.S. law, Rubio wrote Tuesday in Newsweek.
"Thankfully, this year's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill provides an opportunity to scrutinize our government's insane flight rules to appease illegal immigrants," he wrote. "Congress' purpose is clear: We must outlaw the use of arrest warrants as identification."
The Biden administration has a short memory, Rubio warned.
"Lawful U.S. citizens are subject to reasonable photo ID requirements when they fly, but illegal immigrants with potential ties to terrorist organizations or gangs can make do with less?" Rubio wrote. "Perhaps the Biden administration's bureaucrats have forgotten why we instituted flight safeguards in the first place: because Sept. 11, 2001 taught us how disastrous it can be to let the wrong people onto planes."
Further, he said President Joe Biden's inaction in undoing the policy is steeped in his unwillingness "to admit [Donald] Trump was right" and weakness "to buck the open-borders extremists in the Democratic Party's base."
Last year, Rubio and Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, announced the reintroduction of the SECURE Flights Act, which would ban the use of arrest warrants as ID for illegals. Rubio is calling on the Senate to amend the FAA reauthorization bill using the controls of his bill to enforce common sense.
"Securing flights against illegal immigrants and those this administration is unable or unwilling to properly vet is common sense to most Americans," he concluded. "Democrats, however, are already signaling they will block this basic reform.
"The American people deserve a sign their leaders are still looking after them, and I hope my colleagues agree to give them one."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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