On July 9, the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security of the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on visits to the U.S. by Cuban officials to U.S. airports where flights from Cuba are received. This was after a May 20, 2024 (Cuban Independence Day) visit by Cuban officials hosted by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the Miami International Airport and a meeting at TSA headquarters in the D.C. area without prior notice to congressional leaders. [1]
The main witness was Melanie Harvey, the TSA Executive Assistant Administrator for Security Operations, who said the U.S. needed these visits due to the large number of Cuban citizens who arrive at these airports.
She also said that since the passage of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act in 1985, Congress has given TSA the responsibility of evaluating the effectiveness of security measures at foreign airports that serve as the last point of departure into the United States and that also honor the international standard of sharing information on security, training and quality control programs.” She added that the Cuban government recently had deployed more explosives detection technology at their airports.
The head of this Subcommittee, Representative Carlos A. Gimenez (Rep., FL) and a Cuban-American, disagreed. He said, “The TSA and the State Department do no take seriously the threat posed by Cuban officials on U.S. soil” and “do not believe that (the regime of) Cuba represents any real threat to the [U.S.].” Moreover, “TSA and the State Department failed to notify or coordinate this visit with airport officals and failed to notify Congress of their intent to host (representatives of) a state sponsor of terrorism on U.S. soil. [This demonstrates] “the negligence” of the TSA and calls into question the “capacity of this federal agency to adequately interact with adversarial foreign governments, such as the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Cuba.”
The Ranking Member of this Subcommittee, Shri Thanedar (Dem, Mich), had a different perspective. He said that “over the past year, approximately 2.4 million passengers traveled between Cuba and the United States , providing opportunities for tourism and family connections, which serve as critical lifelines for many people during Cuba’s current economic and humanitarian challenges.” Moreover, “Denying Cuban officials the opportunity to visit U.S. airports would jeopardize the safety of air passengers and ultimately harm the Cuban and American people far more than it would harm the Cuban government.”
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[1] US Transportation Security Administration on Cuban officials’ visits: ’necessary,’ Diario de Cuba (July 10, 2024); Chairman Gimenez Opens Hearing on Unannounced TSA Visit by Cuban Officials: The Biden Administration Cannot “Reward the Cuban Government,” (July 9, 2024); Harvey, “Protecting the Homeland—Examining TSA’s Relationships with U.S. Adversaries” [Opening Statement at House Subcommittee Hearing), (July 9, 2024).