A man identified as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto was arrested after a United flight landed at the New Orleans airport, according to a report from Not The Bee. The arrest followed an alleged cockpit incident in which Gomez-Alberto claimed to have a bomb. That is not a minor airline inconvenience. It is the kind of security scare that leaves passengers wondering how someone with a reported history of illegal entry and deportation got that far in the first place.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Gomez-Alberto once the flight landed at MSY, the New Orleans airport. He was charged with felony bomb threat, terroristic threats, and disorderly conduct. He is being held in New Orleans without bond. Those are serious charges, and the alleged conduct is the sort of thing that should produce immediate attention, not a shrug and a quick return to business as usual. Apparently, “No biggie, right?” is still being offered as a national security strategy.
According to DHS, Gomez-Alberto first crossed the Texas border illegally in 2011 and was deported. He then illegally reentered through the New Mexico border in 2014 and was deported a second time. In 2019, he illegally reentered the country for a third time. Border Patrol arrested him, but he was released after an immigration judge ordered his release.
So, according to the account, the record includes three illegal entries, two deportations, an arrest by Border Patrol, and a release ordered by an immigration judge. The report says the first two entries happened under President Obama and the third happened under President Trump. That timeline is difficult to square with the idea that immigration enforcement should be treated like an optional suggestion.
The source commentary puts the familiar excuse more bluntly: “People say that Americans commit crimes at a higher rate than illegal aliens, so we just have to be okay with this, I guess.” That is a remarkable standard to apply to airline security. Nobody should have to accept repeated illegal entry, multiple deportations, and an alleged bomb threat as the price of pretending the border problem is somebody else’s concern.
Then there is the airport security question. “I thought you had to have a Real ID to get on a plane now?” the report asks. “Are there exceptions for illegal aliens??” Those questions are fair, especially when an alleged bomb threat unfolds inside an aircraft. The report does not explain what identification was used, so that part remains unanswered. It does establish that repeated illegal reentry and prior deportations did not prevent another entry, while a later immigration release did not end the story.
Gomez-Alberto is being held without bond in New Orleans. As the source puts it, “We have a long way to go before we’re even remotely serious about the illegal immigration problem.” The full account is available from Not The Bee.
Leave a Comment