TSA Announces It Could Slap You With a $1500 Fine if You Don't Wear a Mask

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

In late January, Brandon Morse shared the news that Joe Biden floated the idea of requiring proof of a Wuhan coronavirus vaccination before letting Americans get on a commercial airliner, writing in a VIP piece:

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According to Fox News, Biden is now looking to force you to take a COVID-19 test to fly domestically on top of having to deal with the TSA searching your belongings and looking at you in the buff via machines as well.

While that hasn’t been imposed yet, readers might remember something else that was once only on paper.

Just days after the November election, Biden let slip the details of a proposed national mask mandate — something which Republican Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota utterly destroyed in record time.

Then, as my colleague Sister Toldjah pointed out, the very first mandate Joe Biden signed in his flurry of executive orders on Inauguration Day “revolved around mandating mask-wearing on federal property.”

The mandate read, in part: (emphasis mine)

Accordingly, to protect the Federal workforce and individuals interacting with the Federal workforce, and to ensure the continuity of Government services and activities, on-duty or on-site Federal employees, on-site Federal contractors, and other individuals in Federal buildings and on Federal lands should all wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures, as provided in CDC guidelines.

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Now, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), taking its cue from the EO, is “beefing up” enforcement of the face bags “when in airports; at bus, ferry and rail stations; and when flying commercially or riding buses and trains,” according to the Washington Post.

The agency gave airlines, transit agencies, train operators and other transportation managers a telephone number to call to report problem passengers.

“They will report violators to TSA and TSA may penalize those who refuse to wear a mask within the transportation networks,” said TSA spokesman R. Carter Langston.

Companies are being tapped by the government to report on their own customers. Got it.

What happens next? KPHO/KTVK reports that the agency could fine you up to $1,500 for noncompliance:

The Transportation Security Administration says it will recommend a fine for people who don’t wear face masks at security checkpoints. For first-time offenders, the TSA will recommend a $250 penalty. That goes up to $1,500 for repeat offenders.

Oh, and WaPo added this somewhat troubling quote from the TSA statement: (emphasis mine)

In a statement, the agency said people subject to the civil penalties will have due process.

“Among their options are the right to an informal conference with TSA,” the statement said.

That process can be a long one, the agency said.

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There’s just one problem with that. We already have something that gives us the right to due process — and the right to decide if and when we wear a coronavirus face bag. It’s called the U.S. Constitution. Executive orders signed by the man or woman sitting behind the Resolute Desk are not laws. And that line about the process possibly being a long one? Sounds like it might skirt several basic rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Also, isn’t the TSA supposed to be about keeping us safe from terrorists? Nothing in this big government power grab has a thing to do with handling that task, as far as I can tell.

Happy traveling, America!

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