FEB 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 2

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs.

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs. ACROSS THE US Latest law enforcement news from across the country. AIR MARSHALS OUTRAGED AT BIDEN ADMIN FOR BORDER DEPLOYMENTS DESPITE TER- ROR THREAT: ‘ABSOLUTELY MADNESS’ Air Marshal National Council Executive Director Sonya Labosco joined “Fox & Friends First” Tuesday to discuss why the diversion has put Americans at risk and why they are going to “suffer” as a result of the move. “It looks absolutely insane,” Labosco told co-host Todd Piro. “We don’t understand why these decisions are being made. The intel is clear. Al Qaeda is watching for our weak areas. Our aviation is a high-risk area. We’re not protecting our aviation domain, and we’re going to the border. It is absolutely madness.” High-level Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources told Judicial Review that “al Qaeda says upcoming attacks on US possibly involving planes, will use new techniques and tactics.” Despite the looming terror threat, the Biden administration announced mandatory deployments to the border as the migrant surge continues to strain already-worsening conditions amid staffing shortages. Many agents pushed back on the Biden administration over the move, expressing willingness to refuse the deployment and face possible termination. Labosco suggested the mandatory diversions may not have sufficient legal grounds. “We do believe it’s a violation,” Labosco said. “We do believe that DHS has overstepped their bounds. We are waiting for Congress to get sworn in, hopefully today, and we can get some movement here. We need someone to step in and stop the deployment of federal air marshals.” “This statute, when it was originally a tent and set by Congress, was not to deploy air marshals to the border, and to be clear, there is no national emergency,” she continued. “There’s been no national emergency declared at this point. So we’re still saying that it is we need an injunction from Congress that they cannot send us to the border.” The Air Marshal National Council sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the weekend, calling out the administration for the policy since the border crisis has garnered little attention. “How can you justify sending FAMs to the border in huge numbers, when the border is in your words secure, and there is no emergency yet?” the letter read. “Yet we have major security incidents happening right now affecting our aviation security.” Even amid the diversion, Labosco noted the American people have not forgotten the critical lessons learned following the devastating 9/11 attacks, more than two decades after thousands lost their lives. “I can tell you who hasn’t forgotten, we haven’t forgotten,” Labosco said. “The American people, the family and friends of those that died on 911, they haven’t forgotten.” “We’re not we’re not going to catch al Qaeda trying to grab an airplane down in El Paso,” she continued. “It’s going to happen right here in a commercial airport, in a commercial aircraft.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson pushed back on the claim that flights are being left vulnerable. “Federal Air Marshals have long supported various Departmental operations on a regular basis across Democratic and Republican administrations alike. There is nothing new or unique about this. They have been deployed to support the U.N. General Assembly, Operation Allies Welcome, hurricane recovery efforts, and CBP at the Southwest border. The last Administration in 2019 tem- 46 The BLUES The BLUES 47