March 20, 2024

The Honorable Michael Whitaker

Administrator
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20591

Dear Mr. Whitaker:

As members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

(“Committee”), we write regarding the housing of illegal aliens1 at major commercial airports
across the country. Since at least June, the cities of Chicago, Boston, and New York, have been
housing illegal aliens in various facilities at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Midway
International Airport, Boston’s Logan International Airport, and New York’s John F. Kennedy
International Airport.2 While the New York-New Jersey Port Authority (“Port Authority”)
applied for and received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to do so in a
facility designated for aeronautical purposes, it is unclear whether Chicago or Boston did so, or
even notified the FAA of their plans to house illegal aliens at their public commercial service
airports.3 The repeated misuse of taxpayer-funded facilities appears to be a popular trend in
liberal enclaves where politicians are repurposing physical infrastructure built for a public use—
like educating children or operating as an athletic field or facilitating a national system of civil
aviation—to instead house illegal aliens.4 The effect of housing illegal aliens at public

1
As used in this letter, the term “illegal alien” means an alien, as defined in §101 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA), who has not been admitted as that term is defined in such section.
2
Oscar Margain. Migrants sleep at Logan airport amid calls for more aid. NBC Boston. January 25, 2024.
Available at https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/migrants-sleep-at-logan-airport-amid-calls-for-more-
aid/3258115/; Brianna Herlihy. Illegal migrants are sleeping in terminals of Boston airport on ‘daily basis’ as crisis
overwhelms shelters. Fox News. January 25, 2024. Available at https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-migrants-are-
sleeping-in-terminals-of-boston-airport-on-daily-basis-as-crisis-overwhelms-shelters.; Bergquam: ‘More Than Half
of the Shuttle Terminal Has Been Taken Over at O’Hare International Airport to House Illegals That Chicago Can’t
Handle.’ Chicago City Wire. January 19, 2024. Available at https://chicagocitywire.com/stories/652915809-
bergquam-more-than-half-of-the-shuttle-terminal-has-been-taken-over-at-o-hare-international-airport-to-house-
illegals-that-chicago-can-t-handle.
3
FAA Approval to Extend the License Agreement for the Temporary Use of Building Number 197 at John F.
Kennedy International Airport. Federal Aviation Administration. September 25, 2023.
4
Justin Delmonico. Local Residents Frustrated as Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey Turns Boston Community
Center Into Housing For Migrants. The Maine Wire. February 1, 2024. Available at
 The Honorable Michael Whitaker
March 20, 2024
Page 2 of 4

infrastructure is to divert that infrastructure from its intended and important function to try and
fix the Biden administration’s self-created border crisis. This degradation of the airport system
should concern you.

Over the last 75-plus years, the federal government has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in
the development of a robust, nationwide public-use airport system to facilitate the “growth of
aviation and the requirements of interstate commerce . . . and the national defense.”5 As the FAA
itself states, there are several obligations that come with receiving this federal assistance, but the
“[m]ost important is that the airport and its facilities must be available for public use as an
airport.”6 Repurposing airport facilities and infrastructure to house illegal aliens not only
degrades taxpayers’ investment in the national airport system but, in some cases, as federally-
funded airport facilities are withdrawn from public access and use, it violates the requirement
that these federally-funded facilities “be available for public use as an airport.”7 No rational
person would define an airport as a facility that houses illegal aliens.

The known instances of cities housing illegal aliens at airports have included some of the busiest
airports in the country. We are concerned that, absent your decisive leadership, other Democrat
cities with surging populations of illegal aliens will see commercial airports as an appealing
alternative to city facilities and resources and use them as shelters for illegal aliens to the
detriment of the national airport system. It is imperative that you take immediate steps to identify
the how many airports are being used as shelters and make clear to each and every municipality
involved with housing illegal aliens at airports that it is inappropriate, a degradation of the
taxpayers’ investment in a robust national airport system, and could impact future federal
funding.

The Standing Rules of the Senate provide the Committee the authority to “review and study, on a
continuing basis” matters related to transportation including aviation.8 In our capacity as
members of the Committee, we are committed to robust oversight of the U.S. aviation system,

https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/local-residents-frustrated-as-massachusetts-gov-maura-healey-turns-
boston-community-center-into-housing-for-migrants/; Democrats force students out of school to make room for
immigrants. Conn Carroll. Washington Examiner. January 10, 2024. Available at
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2790727/new-york-city-lawsuit-only-proves-immigration-has-real-
costs/.
5
Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 (PL 97-248).
6
AC 150/5190-8, Minimum Standards for Commercial Aeronautical Activities. Federal Aviation Administration.
December 7, 2023. Available at https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC-150-5190-8-
minimum-standards.pdf.
7
Id. (emphasis added).
8
S. Rules XXV(1)(f), XXVI(8)(a)(2).
 The Honorable Michael Whitaker
March 20, 2024
Page 3 of 4

which includes airports receiving federal funding. As such, please provide the documents
requested below and written responses to the questions below no later than April 3, 2024:

1. Regarding housing or otherwise locating illegal aliens,9 have any airports other than JFK
sought approval from the FAA to waive aeronautical use requirements? Provide copies of
all documents referring or relating to housing illegal aliens at airports, including any
approval requests and responses.

2. Regarding housing or otherwise locating illegal aliens at U.S. airports, have any airports
other than JFK and any airports you listed in response to question one, otherwise notified
the FAA prior to housing illegal aliens at the airport?

3. Regarding the illegal aliens authorized to be housed at JFK:

a. Does the FAA verify, or require the Port Authority to verify, that the illegal aliens
being housed in Building 197 are persons seeking asylum? If so, how?

b. Does the FAA require housing be limited to just those aliens who have claimed a
fear of persecution and received a positive credible fear determination?

c. Does the FAA consider illegal aliens who do not claim a fear of persecution to be
persons seeking asylum?

d. Does the FAA consider illegal aliens who receive a negative credible fear
determination and nonetheless remain in the country to be persons seeking
asylum?

e. Must an illegal alien provide the Port Authority with proof they have been
processed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), such as providing a
valid alien or A number? If not, does the FAA ever consider an unvetted illegal
alien “gotaway,” who evaded Border Patrol and was not processed by DHS to be
a person seeking asylum?

4. What statutory requirements for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) or Passenger
Facility Charges (PFC) do you believe are implicated by housing illegal aliens at
airports?

5. Has the FAA certified that no AIP or PFC funds, at any airport, have been used to
facilitate the housing of illegal aliens at airports?

6. Has the FAA consulted or communicated with any other federal entities, including the
Office of the Secretary of Transportation and the White House, regarding the housing or

9
See n. 1, supra.
 The Honorable Michael Whitaker
March 20, 2024
Page 4 of 4

sheltering of illegal aliens at airports? If so, describe those communications and include
copies of all communications referring or relating to housing or sheltering illegal aliens at
airports.

The crisis of illegal immigration brought on by the Biden administration is not just untenable, it
is inhumane. Rather than allow airports across the country to be used as shelters for illegal aliens,
we encourage you to protect the robust infrastructure built by decades of federal investment.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

___________________________ ___________________________
Ted Cruz Tedd Budd
United States Senator United States Senator

___________________________ ___________________________
JD Vance Todd Young
United States Senator United States Senator

___________________________ ___________________________
Dan Sullivan Marsha Blackburn
United States Senator United States Senator

___________________________
Cynthia Lummis