EXCLUSIVE: Cawthorn bill would ban using federal funds to compensate airlines for illegal immigrant flights

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Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a North Carolina Republican, on Thursday introduced a bill that would forbid the use of federal funds to compensate airlines that transport illegal immigrants throughout the country.

If the legislation, dubbed the No-Fly for Illegals Act, was to be enacted, the government would be banned from picking up the tab for migrant air travel, provided that “the presence of such alien in the United States is unlawful,” a copy of the proposal, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, read. The bill makes exceptions if the flight serves to expel the illegal immigrants from the country or if it protects the person “from an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of the alien,” including hospital visits.

“Illegal immigrants are being flown to, and relocated across, our once secure nation with no regard to our nation’s laws or families safety,” Cawthorn said in a statement. “I’m deeply troubled by the reports regarding the crisis at our southern border and the dangerous and unlawful immigration policies of the Biden administration. Under President Trump, we saw a secure border. Under President Biden, we see no border at all. I refuse to watch illegal aliens be unlawfully flown and relocated to our beautiful states on the taxpayer’s dollar. This is why I introduced the No-Fly for Illegals Act.”

TUCKER CARLSON REPORTS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION USING TEXAS AIR FORCE BASE TO TRANSPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ‘SECRETLY’

COVID-19 does not constitute an “imminent threat to … life or physical safety,” according to the bill.

Republican Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Greg Steube of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Randy Weber of Texas were listed as co-sponsors of the legislation.

President Joe Biden has faced bipartisan backlash for his handling of a crisis at the southern border after unprecedented numbers of migrants, including unaccompanied children, have flooded into the U.S. since he assumed office on Jan. 20. GOP leaders throughout the country have sounded the alarm over concerns that the administration is employing airlines to ship migrants throughout the country without first alerting local leaders.

Republican Govs. Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Bill Lee of Tennessee in June demanded a congressional hearing over the matter. On May 2, Iowa officials were alerted about an April 22 flight that landed overnight in Des Moines, Iowa, the two governors wrote in a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Federal authorities initially disputed a report regarding the plane, though state officials reviewed surveillance footage and began to press executives in the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Similarly, on May 20, Tennessee lawmakers lashed out after local reporters revealed that four planes arrived at Chattanooga’s Wilson Air Center under the cover of darkness.

Children offloaded the aircraft with matching bags before packing into buses owned by Coast to Coast Tours as part of a contract with the Department of Defense. Two of the buses, which reportedly hold 30 to 50 minors, were sent to Miami and Dallas, while at least 10 minors were brought to a dormitory in Highland Park, Tennessee.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Earlier in the month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed leaked correspondence from Laughlin Air Force base proved that “passenger aircraft” were utilizing runways under the direction of ICE and Border Patrol. Carlson said that the email was obtained from a “whistleblower,” adding that the information was confirmed by the Pentagon.

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