Public Safety & Homeland Security
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — California Congressman Eric Swalwell says a teen stowaway who flew to Hawaii in a jet wheel well should never have been able to climb the San Jose International Airport fence undetected.
Swalwell said Friday he's asking the Transportation Security Administration to test perimeter alert systems at several U.S. airports to see if technology can help prevent future breaches.
Yahya Abdi of Santa Clara, California, survived the April 20 trip to Hawaii.
A Bay Area congressman wants an updated assessment of the nation's airport perimeter security needs following a Santa Clara teen's stowaway voyage in the wheel well of a jetliner taking off from Mineta San Jose International Airport. The 15-year-old jumped a fence to get into the airport Sunday, and miraculously survived a five-and-a-half hour flight to Hawaii despite freezing temperatures and low oxygen levels.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, today released the following statement after a passenger was discovered to have flown without a ticket from Mineta San Jose International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport on August 4:
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today announced that the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) System was awarded a FY14 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) transportation security grant of $17.4 million to secure the Transbay Tube that connects the East Bay and San Francisco against a potential terrorist attack. Swalwell, a member of the Homeland Security Transportation Security Subcommittee, led a letter to DHS urging support for BART's request for transit security funding.
DUBLIN, CA – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15), a Member of the Homeland Security Transportation Security Subcommittee, released the following statement in response to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson's announcement directing the TSA to implement enhanced security measures in the coming days at certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States:
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today released the following statement praising Mineta San Jose Airport's (SJC) steps to improve its perimeter security following the April breach by a teenager who was later able to stowaway in an airplane undetected. Swalwell is the only Northern California Member of the Homeland Security Committee.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) released the following statement after Yahye Abdi, the teenager who breached the Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) perimeter and stowed away in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines plane, spoke for the first-time publicly about the ease of trespassing the airport perimeter fence.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today successfully passed an amendment in the Committee on Homeland Security to strengthen air travel security by providing incentives for countries to report data on lost and stolen travel documents. Swalwell's amendment to H.R. 3846, a bill regarding U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), would require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to certify that countries participating in CBP's trusted traveler program routinely provide information on lost and stolen travel documents to the U.S.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) released the following statement after voting NO on the weakened USA FREEDOM Act that would allow the NSA to continue collecting Americans' information in bulk.
SAN JOSE, CA – Following a tour of the Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) perimeter, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15) today called for pilot programs to test various technologies to determine the best, most cost-effective methods to secure airport perimeters. Swalwell is the only Northern California member of the Homeland Security Committee. On April 20, a teenager flew from SJC to Hawaii in the wheel well of a Hawaiian Airlines flight after he trespassed undetected.