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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Florida lawmakers erupt over Cuban officials touring secure parts of top airport |
| 2024-05-23 |
| [FoxNews] Florida lawmakers in Congress are demanding answers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about Cuban officials touring secure areas of the Miami International Airport, raising national security concerns from both local and national lawmakers. "You are taking agents from a country which is on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. And you're showing them our procedures and our equipment and our sensitive areas that protect the American public from terrorism. So how does that make sense?" Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview. Republican lawmakers led by Gimenez wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator David Pekoske about the tour, which took place on Monday at the Miami airport. Other lawmakers on the letter include Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, and Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Mario Diaz-Balart. CBS News Miami reported that officials said the five-hour tour involved a tour of sensitive areas of the airport — a security checkpoint and a baggage screen area. "You're taking agents of the Cuban Communist Party and showing them the TSA equipment and procedures at Miami International Airport, where there's a community of over a million Cuban exiles, that were exiled due to that same regime. It's a slap in the face of that community," Gimenez said. He also noted that the visit purportedly took place on May 20th — Cuban Independence Day. In the letter, the lawmakers say that it is not the first time that Cuban delegations have been given tours, pointing to tours of the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters last year and a visit of port facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina. "Under your watch, Cuban operatives have again accessed sensitive, secure areas within the U.S. transportation system. Yet again, Congress must step in to prevent your Department and the Biden Administration from hosting individuals from a country which our Department of State has listed as a SSOT [State Sponsors of Terrorism] since 2021," the lawmakers said. The lawmakers want to know which statutory authority officials invited members of the Cuban government under, the areas accessed, the process for hosting tours, any visas that were issued and the security protocols in place. In response to the letter, a DHS spokesperson said it "responds to congressional correspondence directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight." A TSA spokesperson told Fox that it "routinely works with all countries with direct flights to the United States." "TSA hosts government officials and members of the aviation community at U.S. airports to foster a strong global aviation security posture. U.S. and Cuban authorities jointly manage the airspace between Cuba and the United States and ensure the safety and security of travelers using our airports," the spokesperson said. "The Republic of Cuba has six last point of departure airports with direct flights to the United States, and accordingly TSA continually works to strengthen the security framework with Cuba and other Caribbean nations. The agency says that Cuban officials did not access sensitive technology or systems and instead received a general overview of security operations, including Equipments that anyone screened can see, along with best practices so that Cuba can implement similar measures. It also said that Miami International Airport recently welcomed officials from Antigua, Barbados, Spain and Brazil for similar visits and that the last such Cuban delegation visit came in August 2018. |
| Posted by:Gravimp Uninenter6821 |
| #1 Alejandro Mayorkas was born in Havana. Just sayin' |
| Posted by: Frank G 2024-05-23 05:56 |