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Twice-deported United cockpit suspect granted asylum after transgender persecution claim: DHS
A Honduran man accused of trying to enter the cockpit of a United Airlines flight after allegedly claiming he had a bomb was granted asylum in the US, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The case has drawn attention to how immigration authorities assess asylum claims and how people released during removal proceedings are handled.
DHS says Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, told authorities he feared being killed in Honduras because he is transgender. He was deported after illegal entries in 2011 and 2014, then arrested near San Ysidro, California, in 2019; an immigration judge later granted his asylum claim. After the alleged incident on Flight 2174, which landed in New Orleans on 9 November, he was arrested and held without bond on several charges. DHS says he was released by ICE in January 2020 under an immigration judge’s order while removal proceedings were pending.
In short
- DHS says a twice-deported Honduran man was later granted asylum.
- He cited fear of persecution in Honduras because he is transgender.
- He is now held over an alleged cockpit breach on a United flight.
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The case for
The asylum grant can be defended on the principle that each claim should be assessed on its evidence, regardless of prior unauthorised entries or later allegations. If Gomez-Alberto credibly showed that he faced serious persecution in Honduras because he is transgender, granting protection would fulfil asylum law’s purpose; release while proceedings were pending may also have followed a judge’s order and the rules then in force.
The case against
The case can prompt concern that repeated unauthorised entries and release during removal proceedings may expose gaps in immigration enforcement and public safety safeguards. Critics may argue that authorities should scrutinise claims carefully and manage releases in a way that accounts for foreseeable risks, while recognising that the reported flight incident is an allegation and does not itself establish that the earlier asylum decision was wrong.
Explained simply
Asylum is protection a person can seek in the United States if they fear persecution in their home country. Officials and immigration judges assess the claim; being allowed to seek asylum does not by itself settle a person’s immigration status.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto is a Honduran man whose asylum claim was based on his fear of being killed because he is transgender, according to DHS. He had previously been deported twice, and an immigration judge later granted his claim.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, handles immigration detention and removal. People in removal proceedings may be released under an immigration judge’s order while their case continues, a process that has prompted questions about how such decisions are made and followed.