DHS: twice-deported man accused of storming United cockpit on New Orleans-bound flight had been granted asylum after transgender persecution claim

The twice-deported Honduran man accused of trying to storm the cockpit of a United Airlines flight and claiming to have a bomb had been granted asylum by an immigration judge after saying he feared being killed back home because he is transgender, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday night.

Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, was arrested after United Flight 2174 landed in New Orleans on Nov. 9 following the alleged attempt to breach the cockpit. In an excerpt of his asylum application released by DHS, he wrote: "I am also afraid that I will be killed — either by private citizens or the police — in both of these countries because I am transgender."

According to DHS, Border Patrol caught him crossing illegally near El Indio, Texas, in 2011 and near Columbus, New Mexico, in 2014, and he was deported both times. He was caught a third time in 2019 near San Ysidro, California, and ICE released him in January 2020 on an immigration judge's order while his case was pending. DHS says a judge later granted him asylum.

"This twice-deported criminal illegal alien was allowed into our country because of a weak asylum system that allowed him to game the system," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. He is being held without bond in Jefferson Parish on charges including terrorizing, communicating false information of planned arson and being a fugitive from justice. ICE has lodged a detainer asking to be notified before any release.