{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://carey.house.gov/2022/12/12/exclusive-republicans-warn-biden-hes-putting-us-flight-safety-risk-holiday/", "EXCLUSIVE: Republicans warn Biden that he\u2019s putting U.S. flight safety at risk this holiday season by sending Air Marshalls to the border to deal with the migrant crisis \u2013 and demand to know how much it is costing taxpayers", "2022-12-12", "2022", "2022-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Mike Carey", "C001126", "carey.house.gov", "carey", "https://carey.house.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "Daily Mail\n\nElizabeth Elkind\n\nDecember 12, 2022\n\nHouse Republicans are warning the Biden administration that its plan to utilize US Air Marshals along the southern border will put \u2018the lives and safety of airline passengers at risk\u2019 over the holidays, according to a Monday letter obtained first by DailyMail.com.\n\nOhio GOP Rep. Mike Carey is leading a request for more information to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees both Customs and Border Patrol as well as the Transportation Security Agency \u2013 which runs the Federal Air Marshal Service.\n\nCarey\u2019s letter lists a series of questions for Mayorkas about the plan, including \u2018an estimate of the cost\u2019 of sending Air Marshals to the border, what they\u2019re working on, and what \u2013 if any \u2013 public safety evaluation was done before taking action.\n\nThe letter is co-signed by six other Republican members of Congress.\n\n\u2018As we enter one of the busiest travel times of the year, it is imperative that we have every Federal Air Marshal tending to their actual job rather than assisting in a problem your administration created and continues to ignore,\u2019 the lawmakers stated.\n\nThey also raise concerns about how the Biden administration\u2019s impending rollback of the COVID pandemic-era Title 42 expulsion policy would exacerbate the record surge of people trying to cross the border.\n\nAir Marshals are armed federal agents who are tasked with anonymously riding commercial airline flights, in case an emergency threat arises.\n\nThere are an estimated 3,000 Air Marshals in the United States.\n\nBiden\u2019s plan would reduce the force covering flights to just an eighth of its normal operating size, according to the Washington Examiner. That\u2019s reportedly about one Air Marshal on every 100 flights.\n\nPulling Air Marshals out of the skies to help ease the migrant crisis is \u2018creating a massive risk to public safety,\u2019 Carey\u2019s letter said, with barely three weeks until airline travel is expected to surge for the end-of-year holiday season.\n\nA federal judge ruled recently that President Joe Biden must end Title 42 \u2013 which allows border agents to turn asylum-seekers away on contact in the name of slowing the spread of COVID-19 \u2013 by the end of December 21.\n\n\u2018Many of us have been to the southern border and have seen the major issues underway and know of the ripple effect it has on our country,\u2019 the letter stated.\n\n\u2018The Administration\u2019s lenient immigration policies, including the proposed revocation of Title 42, have led to record-setting encounters at the southern border.\n\n\u2018By failing to take steps to secure our country and further encouraging illegal migrant crossings, the Administration is draining the limited resources of every branch of federal law enforcement.\u2019\n\nThis year\u2019s Christmas and New Years holidays will be the first since 2019 to see travelers fly largely without COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.\n\nThanksgiving travelers were projected to number over 54 million, according to AAA, a rise that nearly matches pre-pandemic levels.\n\nWhile navigating a surge in travel as the industry still struggles to meet demand, DHS is also dealing with a record surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.\n\nThe number of people encountered by Border Patrol has risen to record levels since Biden took office.\n\n\u2018The Federal Air Marshal Service was created with the goal of stopping threats to aviation, not responding to a humanitarian crisis,\u2019 the House GOP letter stated.\n\n\u2018Utilizing the men and women of the Air Marshal Service at the southern border puts the lives and safety of airline passengers at risk.\u2019\n\nCarey demanded that Mayorkas provide answers by the end of the year about the \u2018projected impact to public safety\u2019 and how DHS will \u2018ensure the safety of passengers aboard commercial aircrafts now that many Federal Air Marshals are no longer working in their positions.\u2019\n\nMayorkas is expected to be among a lengthy list of investigative targets when House Republicans take their chamber\u2019s majority next year.\n\nIt\u2019s not immediately clear if GOP lawmakers will take harsher measures to get answers on the Monday letter when they have subpoena power starting in January.\n\nThe Examiner first reported in late November that Air Marshals were planning to \u2018refuse to deploy\u2019 to the border \u2018and risk termination.\u2019\n\nDailyMail.com has reached out to DHS and the TSA for comment.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://carey.house.gov/2022/12/12/exclusive-republicans-warn-biden-hes-putting-us-flight-safety-risk-holiday/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9342541452497244, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}