The Biden administration continues to secretly fly migrants from the southern border to elsewhere in the United States, with Pennsylvania the latest location, according to a former congressman.
Lou Barletta, a Republican running for Pennsylvania governor, said migrants have been flown to the Lehigh Valley after previous flights went into the Scranton area.
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told The Daily Elephant early last week that a total of 130 immigrants were brought on a charted flight to Pennsylvania’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in early December and then sent out on buses, but the Biden administration didn’t make anyone aware of the transfer before it happened.
“Following scrutiny and public outcry over secret charter flights carrying illegal immigrants into Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport in the past few weeks, the Biden administration has apparently shifted their relocation efforts to the Lehigh Valley in the hope that no one would notice,” Barletta’s website said Saturday.
“[Barletta] received a tip and confirmed through FlightAware.com that a flight occurred on Dec. 30 through a charter company which has been used in previous flights.”
Barletta’s website said that at least four flights from Texas carrying immigrants landed at airports in Scranton and Allentown late last month.
The New York Post reported in mid-October that the Biden administration secretly was flying underage migrants from Texas to suburban New York in an effort to resettle them in the region.
The charter flights, emanating from a southern border overwhelmed by migrants, had been arriving in the New York area since at least August, according to Post sources familiar with the situation.
Barletta blasted the Biden administration while the “disregard for Pennsylvanians continues.”
“First, we had to discover for ourselves that illegal immigrants were being shipped into Northeast Pennsylvania on at least four flights. But then when people demanded information, the flights were shifted to the Lehigh Valley and they just hoped no one would notice,” Barletta said on his website.
“While the Biden administration is playing games with the safety of Pennsylvanians, Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro are just throwing up their hands and saying it’s not their problem.”
Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., said the Scranton flights were chartered as part of the federal government’s refugee reunification process, and that the refugee children who arrived at the Scranton Airport were bused to their parents or approved sponsors, WFMZ reported.
Barletta, a former member of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, said it’s nearly impossible to conduct adequate background checks on adults or teenagers who have entered the country illegally. He also has said it’s impossible to determine the actual age of any migrant minors.
Barletta’s website added that Pennsylvania school students are required to be vaccinated against a number of diseases, including polio, hepatitis, mumps, and measles before they enter school, and that there was no evidence migrant children on the airplanes had been inoculated.
Barletta served as representative for Pennsylvania’s 11th Ccongressional District from 2011-19. He served as mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from 2000-10.