Illegal alien who allegedly made bomb threat on plane identified as transgender to obtain asylum, ICE confirms

An illegal alien who was arrested after allegedly claiming to have a bomb on a flight had been granted asylum to stay in the U.S. after claiming to identify as transgender, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed.

Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto allegedly tried to force his way into the cockpit of a United Airlines flight going from Newark, New Jersey, to New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday.

'This twice-deported criminal illegal alien was allowed into our country because of a weak asylum system that allowed him to game the system.'

Pilots on the flight triggered a hijacking alarm, according to the Daily Mail, and Gomez-Alberto was taken into custody when the plane landed.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Gomez-Alberto had been deported twice after entering the U.S. illegally. But after he was caught a third time, he was allowed to stay in the U.S.

On Thursday, ICE confirmed that Gomez-Alberto identified as transgender to request asylum, as first reported by the Daily Wire.

"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," he wrote on his asylum application, according to ICE.

The Daily Wire reported that Gomez-Alberto claimed he feared for his life in his homeland of Honduras and also told authorities that he was HIV-positive and an avid marijuana user.

"This twice-deported criminal illegal alien was allowed into our country because of a weak asylum system that allowed him to game the system,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a statement Thursday.

"Thanks to law enforcement, he is now behind bars," he added.

United Airlines identified the plane as a Boeing 737 Max 9 with 46 passengers and six crew members.

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ICE added that it had issued a detainer request to ensure that Gomez-Alberto was not released by local authorities without notifying ICE.

"With 2,312 known or suspected terrorists arrested, ICE is putting American safety FIRST and cracking down on those who exploit our asylum system," read the statement from ICE. "There is NO place in our country for illegal aliens who terrorize American citizens."

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