http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/25655647/detail.html <http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/25655647/detail.html> Illegals Say TSA Approved Flight Training 3 Claim Documents Show Federal Clearance POSTED: 8:55 am EDT November 6, 2010 UPDATED: 9:12 am EDT November 6, 2010
BOSTON -- Three Brazilian nationals accused being in the country illegally while studying to be pilots at a Stow flight school said they were cleared by the federal Transportation Security Administration for flight training. The men, who agreed to talk to NewsCenter 5 under a condition of anonymity, said they came to the United States legally but now have expired visas. They said the TSA never asked them about their immigration status. "I did an application for the TSA. They looked at my background and there's nothing criminal," said one. "I'm not a terrorist,'' he said. The owner of the TJ Aviation Flight Academy and more than 30 students accused of being in the United States illegally received clearance to train as pilots despite strict security controls put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each of the three showed documents from the TSA approving pilot lessons through the federal agency's alien flight student program. "If I was not supposed to do it, they were supposed to block everything and not give me permission. Not just me, but others," another said. "You cannot start classes without clearance from the TSA," he said. After being allowed to fly for dozens of hours each, they now risk being deported and each said they fear being stereotyped as some kind of foreign terrorists. "All the people going to the school have to work hard to pay money, pay the taxes. Why should I be a terrorist?" said one. TSA officials said they will review the process through which foreign nationals obtain clearance to take flight lessons and acquire pilots' licenses. "TSA is responsible for checking foreign nationals who apply for flight training in the United States or with FAA-certified flight training providers anywhere in the world. TSA performs a thorough background check on each applicant at the time of application to include terrorism and other watch list matching, a criminal history check and checks for available disqualifying immigration information," TSA said in a statement. The school's owner, Thiago DeJesus, denies he is in the U.S. illegally. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: osint-dig...@yahoogroups.com osint-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
