Have you heard about this? ICE officers set to deploy to airports as delays mount, border czar Homan confirms. This is such a bad idea. The largest federal workers union says 'untrained, armed' ICE agents should not replace TSA.
"ICE agents are not trained or certified in aviation security. TSA officers spend months learning to detect explosives, weapons, and threats specifically designed to evade detection at checkpoints — skills that require specialized instruction, hands-on practice, and ongoing recertification," Everett Kelley, president of American Federation of Government Employees, said on Sunday in a statement posted online.
The ACLU is also sounding the alarm:
President Trump and his allies in Congress refused to fund TSA and manufactured a crisis at airports across the country. Now, the president apparently wants to use ICE as his private security force, reminding all of us that ICE is not retreating from lawlessness but assigned at will by the president for political retribution.
This makes me rethink plans to go away this summer. Probably best to stay home, eh? Some others' thoughts, too:
Stunned by all the “ICE isn’t gonna do anything more than what TSA already does” rhetoric.
I've linked to the Bluesky post (as embed seems to be not working for me today). It's an interesting thread. I urge you to click the link and follow it. And one more thread that says a lot more than I can:
What do you think is going to happen when someone doesn't respect their authority?
Do you have to fly anytime soon? Are you rethinking any travel plans now?
I'm rethinking a plane trip right now, I'd like to avoid it all.
ReplyDeleteWe’re flying in a few weeks. I’m not looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteI am relieved I don't travel.
ReplyDeleteNo plans to travel in the near future. I got though the T.S.A quickly. But I think it was I went though smaller airports. I had walk by security (T.S.A) in Seattle they looked quite busy.
ReplyDeleteThis is Birgit…I refuse to visit the States( hardly united right now) until Trumpy and his SS troops are gone. I could easily see right wing nuts get on board a plane with weapons but beat up on any person that “looks” like they are from the Middle East but were born and grew up in the U. S.
ReplyDeletePutting untrained thugs in ANY job seems like a really bad idea, but using them to replace TSA is beyond insane. It's terrifying to think what they're going to do to people now.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for us, we don't have plans to fly anywhere in the near future. My parents and Nick's are within better driving than flying distance, so there aren't too many scenarios I can think of that would force us to fly anytime soon, which I'm very glad about. I'm saying that as a cis, hetero white woman married to a cis, hetero white man (who would most likely be flying with me), so I can't imagine how people they're more likely to target must feel right now. Obviously, the murders of Rene Goode and Alex Pretti proved than none of us are safe, but some groups still seem to be more targeted.
I plan not to fly for a long long time. Hopefully I will not have to. Our shining city on the hill has become a slum infested with hate. I so hate (speaking of hate) to say that.
ReplyDelete