In a bold move that truly embodies the spirit of unilateral government action, the current administration has apparently decided the TSA should moonlight as an immigration enforcement agency. Yes, the same TSA that confiscates your water bottle and swabs your laptop for explosives is now helping identify and detain undocumented immigrants. Because obviously, the next natural evolution of airport security is to start dabbling in immigration law enforcement.
One young woman was reportedly detained and deported after ICE matched her name to a domestic flight list. And guess what? This isn’t some isolated clerical error. This is policy now. Real people, real consequences, real silent changes to how the government uses your personal data.
Take the case of Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old college student who had lived in the U.S. since she was seven. She boarded a domestic flight out of Boston Logan Airport, planning to visit family in Texas. What she didn’t know was that her name had been flagged on an ICE watchlist a list generated from passenger data handed over by TSA. She was detained at the airport, held for 48 hours, and deported to Honduras without ever seeing a judge. No hearing. No warning. Just gone. Her family said she had no idea she was even in danger of deportation, and no proper notice had been given. One minute she was flying home, the next she was banished from the only home she’d known for over a decade.
It’s almost impressive how brazen this is. There was no vote. No memo to the public. No chance for advocacy groups or lawmakers to weigh in. It just… happened. Someone in a federal building somewhere said, “You know what’d be cool? If we used TSA data to help ICE,” and everyone around the table just nodded. Mission creep? No, no, this is just administrative efficiency, right?
Meanwhile, TSA wants you to know that their fancy facial recognition tech is “just for security.” It’s not profiling, they promise. They’re just verifying identities. And if some of those identities happen to land in a federal immigration database, well, that’s just a coincidence. Totally unrelated. Nothing to see here.
The whole thing would be comical if it weren’t so invasive. This is the kind of story you expect from a dystopian sci-fi movie — not from a country that loves to remind the world how free it is. Because if you think airport security is annoying now, just wait until it becomes another checkpoint in the immigration dragnet.
So next time you fly, remember: your boarding pass might not just take you to your destination. It might take you straight into ICE’s hands. All thanks to a policy no one voted for, using a system you thought was just for catching people who forgot to take their belts off.
Democracy at work, folks.
Nan yon aksyon ki vrèman montre jan gouvènman an renmen fè bagay pou kont li, administrasyon aktyèl la deside TSA (ajans ki tcheke w nan ayewopò) ta dwe vin yon ajans imigrasyon tou. Wi, menm TSA sa a ki konn sezi boutèy dlo w epi pase laptop ou ak papye, kounye a ap ede jwenn epi arete imigran san papye. Paske, se evidamman pwochen etap “nòmal” pou sekirite ayewopò.
Pa bezwen konsilte Kongrè. Pa gen vòt. Pa gen deba piblik. Tout bagay fèt an kachèt, byen dous, byen glise. TSA, ki te fèt apre 9/11 pou anpeche teworis, ap kounye a pataje non moun k ap vwayaje ak ICE, pou ICE ka verifye lis vòl yo epi vini arete moun nan ayewopò. Ou te panse se sèlman ID w yo tcheke? Haha. Yo tcheke w pou ICE tou.
Yo te deja arete yon jèn fi apre yo te matche non li ak yon vòl domestik. E ou konnen kisa? Sa pa t erè. Sa se nouvo politik la. Moun ap soufri, dwa ap neglije, e tout sa fèt san bri.
Pran egzanp Any Lucía López Belloza, yon etidyan kolèj 19 lane ki te viv Ozetazini depi li gen 7 an. Li te pran yon vòl soti Boston pou al wè fanmi li nan Texas. Sa li pa t konnen, se ke non li te deja sou lis ICE — yon lis ICE te jwenn gras ak TSA ki pataje lis pasaje yo. Yo arete li nan ayewopò a, kenbe li pandan 48 èdtan, epi voye li tounen Honduras, san jij, san odyans, san avètisman. Fanmi li di li pa t janm konnen li t ap riske depòtasyon. Li te sou wout pou al lakay li, epi li fini pa voye ale pou tout tan.
Se prèske admirab fason yo fè sa avèk otantisite. Pa gen vòt. Pa gen kominike piblik. Pa gen tan pou defansè dwa imigran oswa reprezantan pale. Sa jis… fèt konsa. Yon moun nan biwo federal di, “Ou konnen kisa ki ta bel? Si nou itilize enfòmasyon TSA pou ede ICE.” Tout moun bal tèt. Misyon pa chanje, non. Se “efikasite administratif” yo di.
Antretan, TSA ap fè w konnen ke teknoloji rekonesans figi yo a se “selman pou sekirite.” Se pa pou profilaj. Yo jis ap verifye idantite ou. E si idantite sa a tonbe nan bazdone imigrasyon? Pfff, aza. Totalman pa gen rapò. Ale, pa gade.
Tout sa t ap ka komik, si sa pa t tèlman grav. Sa se kalite istwa ou atann pou tande nan sinema syans-fiksyon dystopian, pa nan peyi ki toujou ap di lemonn li se “peyi lib.” Si ou te panse tchek sekirite ayewopò te fatigan deja, tann lè li vin tounen nouvo chèk imigrasyon kachèt.
Kidonk, pwochen fwa ou sou yon vòl, sonje: tikè ou a ka pa mennen w kote ou te vle ale. Li ka mennen w tou dwat nan bra ICE. Tout sa fèt sou baz yon politik pèsonn pa janm vote, ak yon sistèm ou te panse se pou moun ki bliye wete senti yo sèlman.
Demokrasi an aksyon, zanmi.
