Senate Report: White House Pressured Airports to Shelter Migrants, Officials Warn of Safety Risks

A 47-page Senate Commerce Committee report titled "Flight Risk" alleges the White House asked multiple transportation agencies to identify and use airport facilities to shelter or process migrants, despite warnings from agency staff and local operators that such measures could create safety and security risks.

Key findings

The committee says the administration directed the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to "inventory available facilities" at both federally owned and local airports and to "divert federal resources" to support migrant arrivals.

Internal communications cited in the report show agency staff raising concerns. An FAA official emailed Massport on Oct. 6, 2023: "We have received a request from the WH to determine if there are available facilities on airport or surrounding areas… This is an immediate ask so please prioritize this effort." A DOT staffer responded: "Yikes, this is definitely Fox News fodder in the making." The report uses these exchanges to illustrate internal unease about the directive.

Airports and operations

• The committee identified at least 11 airports that were asked or pressured to house migrants in terminals, hangars or auxiliary buildings, including Boston Logan, Chicago O'Hare and New York's JFK.
• Massport (operator of Boston Logan) warned federal counterparts that the airport was not "designed or resourced to manage the intake of migrant populations" and that doing so "would create a host of unintended safety and security consequences." Despite this, the report says Logan sheltered up to 352 migrants overnight in Terminal E, incurring approximately $779,000 in security, cleaning and transportation costs.
• At Chicago O'Hare, the report states as many as 900 migrants were sheltered in a shuttle terminal. Between April 2023 and February 2024, Chicago police logged 329 service calls and 26 arrests related to those operations, including thefts, disorderly conduct and a death investigation. City officials told investigators that asylum seekers were not always confined to the designated staging area.

Security incidents and other agency roles

The report highlights a 2024 security breach at JFK involving Kleber Loor-Ponce, described in the document as an Ecuadorian national who ran past a security post into a secure area near runways; officers recovered a box cutter and a pair of scissors on him when he was apprehended.

Beyond use of airport facilities, the report says DOT sub-agencies were directed to assist other migrant-support efforts: the FMCSA was asked to help produce a "Know Your Rights" pamphlet for bus passengers and coordinate with states tracking bus companies transporting migrants, while the FTA was asked to remind local transit agencies that federal grants could be used to move migrant populations.

"The Biden-Harris administration made airports and aviation less secure," the committee wrote, asserting that allowing migrants to shelter at airports and diverting federal transportation resources created safety and security concerns.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, issued a statement saying the report shows transportation agencies were used to shelter migrants in airport facilities and criticizing the administration's handling of the issue. The committee report framed these actions as an improper diversion of federal transportation resources.

The report is an account of the committee's findings and recommendations; federal agencies and local operators may dispute aspects of its characterization. The document raises questions about coordination, resource allocation and security considerations when non-traditional sites are used for emergency sheltering at major transportation hubs.