November 6, 2023

The Honorable Pete Buttigieg

Secretary
United States Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590

Dear Secretary Buttigieg:

We are deeply disturbed by reports that the Federal Government is allowing for and
encouraging the use of our Nation’s airport infrastructure as temporary shelters for illegal
immigrants. We adamantly oppose these ill-conceived plans that blatantly ignore the true crisis at
hand and would inappropriately utilize America’s infrastructure. Our Nation’s airport
infrastructure was built to facilitate commerce and transportation, not to serve as housing for
unvetted and undocumented migrants. We request that you enforce public airport grant
assurances and reject such plans. 1

As you are aware, our Nation’s southern border is an uncontrolled and unmitigated
disaster. Untold numbers of illegal immigrants cross our borders unchallenged every single day.
Over six million illegal immigrants have entered the United States and been apprehended under
President Biden’s failed leadership. 2 Many are then released into the United States, some of
whom will presumably never be seen again. 3 The Biden-Harris Administration’s abject failure to
protect our border or support policies that will keep America secure is an unconscionable
dereliction of the most fundamental duty the Federal Government has to the citizens of this
country.

Unsatisfied with the indignity of our unsecure southern border and incapable of dealing
with the effect its failed policies have had, turning every state into a border state, this
Administration is now reportedly proposing to transform our Nation’s airports into migrant

1
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM GRANT ASSURANCES FOR AIRPORT
SPONSORS (May 2022), available at
https://www faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/airports/new_england/airport_compliance/assurances-airport-sponsors-2022-
05.pdf.
2
See Press Release, HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE, Actions Speak Louder Than Words, (Oct. 3, 2023), available at
https://www.gop.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=602.
3
Julia Ainsley, With border crossings up, U.S. begins releasing migrants onto U.S. streets again, NBC NEWS,
(September 15, 2023), available at https://www nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/border-patrol-releases-migrants-
city-streets-arizona-california-rcna105308.

Page 1 of 8
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 2 of 8

camps. 4 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed housing 60,000 migrants at
four public airports and various other facilities in New York and New Jersey. 5 These airports and
their communities rightfully fear being transformed into larger versions of Chicago O’Hare
International Airport, which has reportedly converted portions of its terminal into a shelter for
hundreds of migrants. 6 At a time when the Administration is proposing higher screening
requirements on known airline crewmembers due to security risks, we are extremely concerned
about the lack of regard for security risks posed by housing thousands of unknown persons at
airports, many of which support passenger air service and host sensitive military facilities. 7

Airports are generally required to request permission from the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) before using aeronautical land and facilities for nonaeronautical purposes,
like the housing of migrants, on an interim basis. 8 These provisions prevent governments,
including the Federal Government, from abusing taxpayer investment in aeronautical facilities
and commandeering them at below-market rates for nonaeronautical and incompatible purposes.
It is your responsibility to direct the FAA to reject any attempt by a Federal, state, or local
agency to use airport facilities for such a nonaeronautical and incompatible purpose as housing
migrants.

In order to ensure the safety of the flying public, we request that you provide answers to
the following questions no later than 5:00pm on November 20, 2023:

1. How many and which airports regulated by the FAA currently host temporary or
permanent shelters for illegal immigrants or other persons?

2. Has the FAA received or granted any request from an airport or a local, state, or Federal
agency between January 20, 2021, and today to temporarily use aeronautical facilities for
purposes of hosting a migrant shelter? If so, which?

3. To what extent has DHS consulted with the FAA about the appropriateness of proposing
to house migrants at airports? If DHS has consulted with the FAA, what has been the
FAA’s response?

Thank you for your prompt attention to this important matter. If you have any questions,
please direct your staff to contact T. Hunter Presti, Majority Staff Director, Subcommittee on
Aviation,

4
Laura Nahmias, Biden Offers Airports in Atlantic City, on Canadian Border to House NYC Migrants, BLOOMBERG,
(August 30, 2023), available at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-30/biden-offers-nyc-migrants-
11-sites-including-atlantic-city-airport.
5
Id.
6
Elizabeth Heckman, Chicago’s O’Hare Airport used as a migrant shelter as crisis overwhelms city: ‘Like a scene
from Mad Max’, FOX NEWS, (September 7, 2023), available at https://www foxnews.com/media/chicagos-ohare-
airport-used-migrant-shelter-crisis-overwhelms-city-like-scene-mad-max.
7
TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, NATIONAL AMENDMENT ON AVIATION WORKER SCREENING, TSA
Order TSA-NA-23-02.
8
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, AIRPORT COMPLIANCE MANUAL, Pg. 22-4, (last accessed Sept. 20, 2022),
available at https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/order/5190_6b.pdf.
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
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Sincerely,

_____________________ _____________________
Sam Graves Elise M. Stefanik
Chairman Member of Congress
Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure

_____________________ _____________________
Garret Graves Anthony D’Esposito
Chairman Member of Congress
Subcommittee on Aviation

_____________________ _____________________
Robert B. Aderholt Mark Alford
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Jim Baird Aaron Bean
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Mike Bost Tim Burchett
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Eric Burlison Ken Calvert
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 4 of 8

_____________________ _____________________
Kat Cammack Earl L. "Buddy" Carter
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Andrew S. Clyde Mike Collins
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Eric A. “Rick” Crawford Byron Donalds
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Neal P. Dunn, M.D. Chuck Edwards
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Ron Estes Scott Fitzgerald
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Mike Flood Virginia Foxx
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 5 of 8

_____________________ _____________________
C. Scott Franklin Andrew R. Garbarino
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Tony Gonzales Jenniffer González-Colón
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Lance Gooden Michael Guest
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Harriet M. Hageman Erin Houchin
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Richard Hudson Darrell Issa
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Bill Johnson Dusty Johnson
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 6 of 8

_____________________ _____________________
Thomas H. Kean, Jr. Mike Kelly
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Doug LaMalfa Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Nick Langworthy Jake LaTurner
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Michael V. Lawler Nicole Malliotakis
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Tom McClintock Mary E. Miller
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Marcus J. Molinaro John Moolenaar
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 7 of 8

_____________________ _____________________
Troy E. Nehls Burgess Owens
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Greg Pence Guy Reschenthaler
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Harold Rogers John Rose
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
David Rouzer Chip Roy
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Adrian Smith Christopher H. Smith
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Pete Stauber Glenn "GT" Thompson
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Secretary Buttigieg
November 6, 2023
Page 8 of 8

_____________________ _____________________
David G. Valadao Jeff Van Drew
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Beth Van Duyne Derrick Van Orden
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Tim Walberg Randy K. Weber
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Daniel Webster Bruce Westerman
Member of Congress Member of Congress

_____________________ _____________________
Brandon Williams Rudy Yakym III
Member of Congress Member of Congress

cc: The Honorable Rick Larsen, Ranking Member

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

The Honorable Michael Whitaker

Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration