# The SECURE Flights Act: What It Actually Does

This bill makes it harder for certain people to board flights by preventing them from using specific immigration documents as identification at airport security checkpoints. The documents it targets are forms that immigration authorities issue to people they're tracking—things like arrest warrants, deportation orders, and release paperwork. If someone tries to use one of these documents to get through security, TSA won't accept it as valid ID, and the agency will immediately notify immigration authorities and local police.

The practical effect is that people who are under immigration supervision or facing removal proceedings would essentially be blocked from flying unless they have other acceptable identification. The bill does allow two exceptions: someone can still board if they're leaving the country for deportation, or if they have a "covered" ID—which includes passports, military IDs, enhanced driver's licenses, trusted traveler cards like Global Entry, or various other government-issued documents. So the bill doesn't completely prevent these individuals from flying, but it does create a barrier and triggers law enforcement notification.

The bill also requires TSA to collect biometric information—fingerprints, palm prints, facial photographs, iris scans, and similar data—from anyone trying to enter the secure area of an airport who doesn't have one of the acceptable IDs and whose citizenship TSA can't verify. This biometric data would be entered into a federal database called IDENT that immigration agencies use. This means people without standard identification documents would need to provide this biological information to fly, which could affect travelers from other countries, people with expired documents, or those without traditional ID.

SECURE Flights Act

Gooden, Lance

Strengthening Enforcement and Criminalizing Unlawful Records Enabling Flights Act or the SECURE Flights Act This bill prohibits the use of warrants and other documents issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as proof of identification at airport security checkpoints unless the individual is leaving the United States pursuant to immigration laws. If an individual uses prohibited documents as a proof of identification, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) must (1) inform ICE and local law enforcement to determine whether the individual is in violation of any term of release, and (2) collect the individual's biometric information unless the TSA can verify the individual is a U.S. national. The TSA must also submit the biometric information to a national biometric identification system.