This from a letter I received from Congressman Mark Kirk of IL:

Late last year, we also learned that more than 30 illegal aliens gained access to O'Hare's most sensitive areas. Without valid Social Security numbers, illegal aliens were given official badges to access the tarmac and the airplanes. This was not the first time. It had happened before at airports around the country because current law does not require airport badging authorities to even check a job applicant's Social Security number.

o In November 2002, authorities arrested 65 illegal immigrants at Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport.

o In March 2005, authorities arrested 14 illegal immigrants at Boston's Logan Airport.

o In June 2006, authorities arrested 55 illegal immigrants at Washington Dulles.

o In November 2006, authorities arrested six illegal immigrants at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

To protect our nation's homeland security and set basic federal standards for those who seek access to an airport's most sensitive areas, I offered an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2009 Homeland Security Appropriations bill during the Appropriations Committee markup on June 24, 2008. Under my amendment, an individual seeking access to a secured area of an American airport must be a U.S. national or legal permanent resident, possess a valid Social Security number that actually belongs to that individual, and verify that number through the federal government's E-Verify verification system.



This amendment seemed like an obvious reform to make. In fact, Section 524 of the bill already required E-Verify verification of all new hires inside the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security. To my amazement, Representative David Price (D-NC), the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, opposed the Kirk amendment and it was defeated by a partisan vote. In the end, the Appropriations Committee stood for the principle that we should verify the legal status of a desk clerk in the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security, but should not verify the identity of a person given direct access to airplanes, tarmacs and baggage loading areas. Rest assured, I will offer my amendment again and again before the full House of Representatives when this bill moves forward.