Congresswoman Tenney, NY Colleagues Demand Biden End Secret Flights of Illegal Immigrants to NY

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today joined House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and other members of New York’s congressional delegation in a letter to President Biden. The letter addressed the Administration’s covert flights of illegal immigrants from the Southern Border to New York State and urged the President to stop the flights immediately.

It was reported last fall that the Biden Administration was secretly transporting underage illegal immigrants to New York for resettlement. Many of the planes had reportedly arrived in the middle of the night in order to not draw attention and allegedly to avoid detection by local law enforcement agencies. On January 26, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made available bodycam footage from a local police officer showing a plane full of illegal immigrants being flown into Westchester County Airport before sunrise. In the video, federal contractors transporting the illegal immigrants refused to identify their employers, stating they were not authorized to share that information.

“From day one, the Biden Administration has failed its most basic duties, like enforcing the laws we have on the books and protecting our homeland. The President has shown more interest in catering to far-left special interests than he has in protecting our national security and upholding our immigration laws. Under the lawless Biden Administration, every state has truly become a border state. President Biden’s failed border policies as well as his covert relocation flights and alleged release of adult migrants into our country must be investigated by Congress. I continue to call for impeachment proceedings to begin and am honored to join with my New York colleagues today to demand accountability,” said Tenney.

In part the lawmakers wrote, “We urge you to immediately cease any activities of transporting illegal immigrants by plane, or any other method, from the Southern Border to New York State. Following your DHS’s recent response, we demand you provide Congress and all New Yorkers with the current location and status of each illegal immigrants you have transferred to our state. The New Yorkers we represent are entitled to know how your failure to address the crisis at our Southern Border continues to impact their communities and day-to-day lives.”

The letter was also signed by New York Reps. Zeldin, Jacobs, Garbarino, and Malliotakis.

The full text of the letter is available here.

Dear President Biden,

We write to you today with grave concern regarding your administration’s repeated flying of illegal immigrants from sites along our Southern Border to locations around the United States, including our home state of New York. A video recording, recently made public following a Freedom of Information Act request, shows illegal immigrants arriving in White Plains, New York by airplane on August 13, 2021.

In this video captured by a local Police Officer’s bodycam, a number of federal contractors are seen shepherding dozens of illegal immigrants from a Boeing 737 to charter buses across the tarmac. The contractors refuse to identify their organization or employer to the Officer, stating they are not authorized to do so. This further signifies the bad faith your administration continues to act in regarding this practice, as the contractors repeatedly describe your Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) intent as keeping these flights away from media coverage.

On October 27, 2021, 51 Members of Congress wrote Secretaries Mayorkas and Becerra requesting information on which agencies are executing these flights, why these flights are being conducted, and a number of other pieces of information to allow Congress to execute its critical role of federal oversight. In its response to Congress, your DHS states it continues to actively transport illegal immigrants through our state of New York. Unfortunately, the Department of Health and Human Resources has failed to respond to date.

We urge you to immediately cease any activities of transporting illegal immigrants by plane, or any other method, from the Southern Border to New York State. Following your DHS’s recent response, we demand you provide Congress and all New Yorkers with the current location and status of each illegal immigrants you have transferred to our state. The New Yorkers we represent are entitled to know how your failure to address the crisis at our Southern Border continues to impact their communities and day-to-day lives.

Sincerely,

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