During the peak of the Biden administration’s open-border chaos, reports surfaced that foreign nationals were sleeping on airport floors around the nation, mainly due to over-capacity at local shelters.
In June 2024, more than 100 people reportedly camped out at Boston Logan International Airport. There were also reports that immigrants were sheltering at the San Diego International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
'This report exposes how the Biden Department of Transportation conspired with local leaders in New York, Boston, and Chicago to house migrants in airport facilities at taxpayer expense.'
A new report by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation found that the Biden administration played a role in this situation by directing multiple federal agencies to identify airports to serve as shelter space or processing facilities for foreign nationals, Fox News Digital reported on Monday. This action was directed to the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the Federal Transit Administration.
The DOT and the FAA were reportedly instructed to “inventory available facilities,” including airports owned by the federal government and those owned locally, to “divert federal resources” to support the influx of arriving foreign nationals.
The committee found that at least 11 of the nation’s airports were pressured to allow migrants to shelter inside terminals, hangars, and auxiliary buildings, Fox News Digital reported. This pressure campaign included Boston Logan, Chicago O’Hare, and John F. Kennedy in New York.
Massport told Blaze News that it informed federal officials that the airport was “not designed or resourced to manage the intake of migrant populations,” warning that it “would create a host of unintended safety and security consequences.”
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The committee highlighted an incident at the JFK Airport in 2024 in which a national from Ecuador “ran past a security post into ‘the secure area' ... toward two runways.” Security apprehended the individual, who was found in possession of a box cutter and scissors.
The report claimed that FAA officials were aware that such actions may require federal approval under grant-assurance rules, but they “ignored them most of the time when airports used their facilities to house aliens.”
“The Biden-Harris administration made airports and aviation less secure,” the committee’s report stated. It argued that the administration allowed and even encouraged “aliens to shelter at U.S. airports, by allowing improperly vetted aliens to fly into and throughout the United States, and by diverting needed federal air marshals to the border.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chairman of the committee, told Fox News Digital, “This report exposes how the Biden Department of Transportation conspired with local leaders in New York, Boston, and Chicago to house migrants in airport facilities at taxpayer expense.”
“Their decisions — to transport illegal aliens through airports without identity checks, even those with felonies — shows in new detail how Biden’s open-border policy co-opted government agencies to put American citizens at risk,” Cruz said.
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The Biden administration expanded so-called lawful pathways, allowing millions of foreign nationals to flood into the United States. One of those pathways included the controversial use of Temporary Protected Status.
TPS was created to provide a deportation shield to foreign nationals in the U.S. based on temporarily unstable conditions in their home countries.
'This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary.'
Since retaking office in January, President Donald Trump has moved to roll back TPS, which was provided to numerous countries under the prior administration.
Trump's Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday the termination of TPS for Burma, effective January 26.
"At least 60 days before a TPS designation expires, the Secretary, after consultation with appropriate U.S. government agencies, is required to review the conditions in a country designated for TPS to determine whether the conditions supporting the designation continue to be met, and, if so, how long to extend the designation," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stated.
"If the Secretary determines that the conditions in the foreign state continue to meet the specific statutory criteria for Temporary Protected Status designation, Temporary Protected Status will be extended for an additional period of 6 months or, in the Secretary's discretion, 12 or 18 months," USCIS continued. "If the Secretary determines that the foreign state no longer meets the conditions for Temporary Protected Status designation, the Secretary must terminate the designation."
Burma was designated for TPS in May 2021, citing the Burmese military's involvement in "a coup" that "depos[ed] the democratically elected government and declar[ed] a temporary one-year state of emergency," which paused elections.
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"The military is responding with increasing oppression and violence to demonstrations and protests, resulting in large-scale human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and deadly force against unarmed individuals," the Biden administration claimed at the time.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem concluded that the situation in Burma has improved and that its citizens are safe to return home.
"This decision restores TPS to its original status as temporary," Noem declared. "Burma has made notable progress in governance and stability, including the end of its state of emergency, plans for free and fair elections, successful ceasefire agreements, and improved local governance contributing to enhanced public service delivery and national reconciliation."
Noem also concluded that allowing Burmese nationals to remain in the country would be "contrary to the national interest of the United States."
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Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) called the move "cruel," claiming that revoking TPS would endanger lives.
"Ending TPS for Burma, in the middle of the conflict there, endangers the lives of many Burmese, including human rights and democracy activists. It's cruel and will undermine the fight for democracy in Burma. The admin must reconsider this terrible decision," Meeks said.
There are nearly 4,000 approved TPS beneficiaries from Burma, according to DHS. Over 200 individuals reportedly have pending applications.
TPS is set to expire for several other nations, including Ethiopia in December, South Sudan in January, and Haiti in February.
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'The closer you look, the more brazen Jack Smith’s actions become,' said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
'I tasked in no uncertain terms to the services that they will treat each of the members with the dignity that they deserve,' War Undersecretary Anthony Tata told The Federalist.
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