Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that demands made by Democrats for new restrictions on federal immigration officers are “unrealistic” and warned that the Department of Homeland Security will shut down next week if they do not work with Republicans and the White House.
Democrats say they will not vote for a DHS spending bill when funding runs out unless there are “dramatic changes” at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal law enforcement agencies in the wake of the fatal shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis last month.
The Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, released an expanded list of 10 detailed proposals on Wednesday night for restraining Donald Trump’s aggressive campaign of immigration enforcement. Among the demands are a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use of force standards and a stop to racial profiling.
Honestly, TSA itself creates a huge terror target. If some latter-day Bin Ladin wanted to disrupt the air travel system through acts of mass violence? The airport security lines themselves are a huge target. IIRC there actually have been cases of terrorists attacking airport security lines. If you’ve ever been to a packed airport on a busy travel day, it should be obvious. Giant TSA line, hundreds of people packed in like cattle. What keeps someone from just wandering up with a bomb in their carry on and detonating it right there in the line? Nothing. And nothing can. You going to make people wait in a security line to get into the security line?
And in terms of actually disrupting the infrastructure of travel, disrupting society, the economy, etc., such attacks have impacts similar to blowing a plane out of the sky. How long is that airport going to be out of commission now that the mandated security line is now a mass crime scene?
Anyway, these are the darker thoughts I think in the back of my mind when stuck in an endless TSA line…