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Home » Travel » Michigan Republican State Representative Claims “Illegal Invaders” Landed In Detroit Airport, Was Terribly Mistaken
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Michigan Republican State Representative Claims “Illegal Invaders” Landed In Detroit Airport, Was Terribly Mistaken

Kyle Stewart Posted onMarch 31, 2024March 31, 2024 46 Comments
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A Michigan Republican representative believed he saw “illegal invaders” arriving in Detroit but the arrivals were anything but. 


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Illegal Invaders

A state representative for Michigan’s 51st district posted on X what he thought was a very concerning situation.

Happening right now. Three busses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro. Anyone have any idea where they’re headed with their police escort? @petehoekstra pic.twitter.com/3xFhIP1jf1

— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) March 28, 2024

Presumably from just beyond the gates at Detroit’s Metro Airport, the legislator identified an Allegiant Air jet that arrived at DTW Wednesday to a remote stand (likely on the FBO side of the airport) with three waiting buses and a police escort.

Rep Matt Maddock presumed in the (still not deleted tweet as of writing) that illegal aliens were arriving from elsewhere to be bussed into the city for placement.

His social media post was quickly and easily debunked as false.

Who Really Arrived In Detroit?

CNN analyst, Daniel Dale, debunked the mystery with Anderson Cooper. There was only one scheduled arrival by Allegiant the day of the post (“happening right now”) and it was a charter plane, in this case from Spokane, Washington. Detroit is home to the third and fourth rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. This particular aircraft was carrying the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, with the three buses and police escort taking the team, its management, support staff, and equipment to an area hotel.

This was confirmed by both the Wayne County Airport Authority and Gonzaga staff.

This case of March Madness was not done on the court but rather in the realm of gross assumption and limited investigation.

Why Would He Assume They Were Illegal?

With many basketball teams competing in the NCAA tournament, it begs the question, why would Maddock believe the aircraft contained “illegal invaders?” This answer goes to a heated topic in the United States regarding illegal immigration at the southern border. As millions of counted people (at least some could not be counted as they have come through undetected) have crossed into the United States’ southern border with Mexico, some border states like Texas have flown or bussed captured migrants to municipalities that have expressed an openness to accept them.

Smaller communities like El Paso (677,000 residents), Eagle Pass (28,000), and Harlingen (71,000) struggle to cope with the nearly 15,000 daily crossers but cities like New York, and Chicago that have expressed liberal policies for migrants do not have to deal with the daily flow. Texas Governor Abbott, as well as the federal government, have thus moved such migrants to cities open to accepting them as border towns are ill suited and have neither the financial, nor physical means to support the inflow.

That said, with fewer than 200,000 such migrants, the nation’s largest city, New York, has declared a state of emergency. Its mayor and governor revised rhetoric (though not policy) against accepting migrants whether legally seeking asylum or simply entering without documentation outside of a US port. Mayor Adams has said that the crisis will “destory” New York City and “Our hearts are endless but our resources are not.”

Thus, Rep Maddock’s suspicion was that migrants were delivered to yet another major city’s doorstep for housing, and resources.

Conclusion

Rep. Maddock incorrectly assumed that an airplane arriving into Detroit meeting waiting busses and a police escort were migrants from the southern border. Many of those migrants may have claimed asylum and are being relocated due to the limited resources at border towns while they await a hearing – up to six years from arrival – up from 4.17 year in 2023. However, this was not, as he claimed, illegal invaders but rather Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team in town for March Madness. The team ultimately lost in the third round of the tournament (Sweet 16) to Purdue by a score of 80 to 68. As their busses return under police escort for a waiting charter out, I wonder if Rep. Maddock will continue his reporting as those busses empty and the plane departs back for the Pacific Northwest.

What do you think? 

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Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

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46 Comments

  1. Stuart Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 10:53 am

    When someone challenged him on Twitter explaining it was the Gonzaga Basketball team he replied, “Sure Kommie.” He’s bright, this one. Not.

    Also, it’s Anderson Cooper, not Cooper Anderson.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 11:04 am

      Corrected.

  2. Alert Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 10:56 am

    I’d rather have the politicians scoping out the airport , than writing their new ideas into laws . It would also be a constructive idea for the political science professors to join the politicians at the airport . Keep them busy .

  3. BDAGuy Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 10:59 am

    As posted in another article, this is more “panic porn” to rile people up without any rational basis or fact-checkiing. The Michigan Rep should be sanctioned for making a false statement meant to incite rather than to inform. Shame on him.

  4. Maryland Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 11:13 am

    How do these idiots keep getting elected?

    • Lance Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 12:13 pm

      Because we allow idiots to vote in America. Stupid is as stupid does.

  5. jsm Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 11:25 am

    Idiots like him keep getting elected because people don’t invest any time in determining the positions taken by candidates on issues. In what are called “red” states candidates can get elected if there is an R following their names, and for “blue” states the letter is a D.

    Democracy also works if the electorate does its job.

  6. derek Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 11:42 am

    Look at Baltimore. When the bridge collapsed, 6 men who died should have been Black or at least 3 Black. Baltimore has many unemployed Black men. Instead, they were all from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and not citizens of the US.

    • Derek Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 11:44 am

      Where’s the is the outrage from the feminist lobby that more women should have died working on the bridge in Baltimore? They just want the good parts.

    • Maryland Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 12:00 pm

      derek.

      The bridge work is frightening. Key bridge was a very high bridge with work scheduled at night when the traffic is lessened. There is a skill set to having familiarity with heights. Some of the workers were recruited specifically for their ability to perform. Few folks can successfully do this. Please be kind as my state is still grieving the loss.

      • Bandmeeting Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 12:57 pm

        “ Some of the workers were recruited specifically for their ability to perform.”

        That’s literally the foundation for job hiring, generally all of them not some (with the exception of favoritism and nepotism).

        • Maryland Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 1:04 pm

          And your point is what? I only mentioned the few that information has been released.

    • Aaron Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 5:28 pm

      Damn, what a horrible thing to say. Not surprised at this point, but still.

  7. tda1986 Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 11:53 am

    How is El Paso a “smaller community”? It is the 22nd largest US city by population… and ahead of Detroit.

    • Lance Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 12:15 pm

      I would guess that maybe the author hasn’t been there?

      • Kyle Stewart Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 12:54 pm

        @Lance, I have absolutely been to El Paso and I’d argue that perhaps you haven’t been to Detroit if you’re suggesting the two are even in the same realm of size and resources.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 12:59 pm

      @tda1986 – Yes, of course, Detroit is 29th and the bustling metropolis of El Paso is 22nd for populations inside of the city limits. But of course by MSA, Detroit is the 12th largest metro in the United States and El Paso is 61st, less than one-fifth the population of the Detroit metro area. By the same analysis, El Paso is also larger than Boston, Washington DC, and Atlanta but somehow I can’t imagine that it has more resources to deal with migrant inflow than any of those areas.

      • Jerry Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 2:10 pm

        Kyle, you’re ignoring the millions on the other side of the border in Juarez. Over 2.7 million people live in El Paso/Juarez, and since you’ve been there, you should be very aware of the fact that the cities very much comprise one single community. The same could be said about Windsor when discussing Detroit. In fact, I think Detroit and El Paso have a lot more in common than most Americans realize.

        • Alert Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 2:31 pm

          @Jerry … +1 . Especially when Brandon gets around to bringing Juarez into El Paso ?

        • Kyle Stewart Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 2:48 pm

          @Jerry – I’m not ignoring the millions in Juarez, but it’s not Jaurez who has to house, clothe, and feed the millions that are crossing. It’s communities on the other side of the border. And if Detroit is housing, clothing, and feeding thousands of new migrants daily from Windsor, then you probably have something to share with news stations around the country and the world.

        • Aaron Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 5:32 pm

          Getting Kyle to admit he wrong about anything is like asking the sun to rise in the west.

  8. John A Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    Since this has turned into a political blog, I think it’s important to identify the political party of each principal character in every story. The bra woman, Republican or Democrat? Kindly gate agent: Republican or Democrat. Workers mentioned in any first class lounge review: You owe it to readers to tell us their political views. If you don’t know, well, speculate based on the activity being described. I’m sure you and Matthew won’t have any trouble sorting things out. Those of us interested in travel can find it elsewhere.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 2:50 pm

      @John A – Identifying the political position of random employees making apolitical statements is irrational. Elected officials making political statements make their party affiliation relevant.

  9. Bobo Bolinski Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 1:57 pm

    “Why Would He Assume They Were Illegal?”

    You ask the question. Then you ignore the most obvious (and true) answer:

    Because they were not white.

    Not all Republicans are racists. But all racists are Republicans.

    • Alert Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 2:30 pm

      @Bobo Bolinski … Please … I happen to live in Hawaii , likely more color-diverse than anywhere in the U.S. In Hawaii, we think the “racist-accusation” frenzy is stupid made-up rap-talk . Nothing at all to do with whether a person is conservative or left-wing . Here one never hears the term “racist” ; it is too stupid , really .

      • Aaron Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 5:34 pm

        Racism (according to you) may not be an issue for some Hawaiians but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist anywhere else.

        • Alert Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 6:15 pm

          @Aaron … Good point . Perhaps it might exist somewhere , but it appears to be a political pejorative-de-jour. For example , a person could be against an open border , for reasons of public health , and ought not be accused of “racism” , which is irrelevant to the issue of public health .

          • Aaron
            April 1, 2024 at 5:59 am

            No, not “Perhaps it might exist somewhere”, like it’s some fantasy that exists only in Narnia, it’s real and does exist in our present times.

            And let’s be frank, racism and xenophobia are driving people’s attitudes to being anti-immigration more than anything else.

      • GUWonder Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 6:46 pm

        There are racists in Hawaii too. Or do you want to try to peddle the myth that there were no racist Europeans in Africa and Asia during the era when they colonized those places and chose to live as a minority in a position of privilege?

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 2:49 pm

      @Bobo Bolinski – He never saw a passenger (player) leave the plane.

      • Alert Reply
        April 1, 2024 at 7:44 am

        @Kyle … +1 .

    • Jerry Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 4:25 pm

      Juarez is hosting an insane amount of migrants waiting to cross. You’re VERY wrong there. There is a veritable Venezuelan village currently in Juarez, also in Piedras Negras, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa etc…

      • Jerry Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 4:26 pm

        Idk why this posted here. It was supposed to be higher up.

        • Stuart Reply
          March 31, 2024 at 6:08 pm

          Because Panic Porn always finds its way to the bottom

      • GUWonder Reply
        March 31, 2024 at 6:41 pm

        Exactly. Mexico is facing its own struggles with hosting a lot of third country nationals trying to get into the US via irregular entry from Mexico.

    • GUWonder Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 6:40 pm

      A lot of Democrats are racist too. Some of that people learned right after 9/11; but for a whole bunch of others, it was learned earlier that there are also racists who vote Democrat. Also, even self-identifying “liberals” aren’t always as liberal and anti-racist as they pretended to be. Let’s take Alan Dershowitz as a case in point. The guy was not only a favor-taker from “he likes ’em young” Jeffrey Epstein, he also turned out to be quite the bigot after 9/11. But what can we expect from a so-called “civil libertarian” who turns out to support torture and extrajudicial games to punish people even in the absence of a conviction arising from a free and fair public trial.

  10. JoeMart Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 2:31 pm

    To answer your question Kyle : I think there’s a lot of disappointed Gonzaga fans.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 2:45 pm

      Fair.

  11. Twinkle Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 4:53 pm

    Don’t give Rep Matt a gun. Sounds like the kinda guy who’d shoot first and ask question much later.

    • Larry B Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 6:43 pm

      Rep Matt ask questions? You give him too him too much credit!

  12. George F. Reply
    March 31, 2024 at 6:08 pm

    I would expect nothing less from a republican.

    • Stuart Reply
      March 31, 2024 at 11:08 pm

      Not a Republican. A MAGA Republican, I do think it deserves distinction these days.

      • Chi Hsuan Reply
        April 1, 2024 at 3:51 am

        MAGA and republicans are the same thing. Your old man Republican Party is gone. Move on, old man.

        • Stuart Reply
          April 1, 2024 at 10:01 pm

          That’s fine. The significant percentage of those you call “Old Republicans” will have no choice but to gradually move to a third party that will chip away at the MAGA base or come to be moderate Democrats. I’ve been amazed at seeing Liz Cheney’s turnouts for appearances across the country, she is doing quite well.

          More likely, the “Old Man” Republicans as you call them are just better at this at the long game. They know a grifter when they see one and are waiting for MAGA to die its eventual death, using some of your policies in the meantime when they serve their needs. The grifter being grifted. It’s fun to watch but lousy to live in.

          • Chi Hsuan
            April 2, 2024 at 12:28 am

            lol yeah you keep telling yourself that, old man

  13. Jason Wong Reply
    April 1, 2024 at 10:17 pm

    Look, I like basketball as much as the next guy, but does anyone find it bizarre that a *college* sports team gets a police escort from the airport??

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