‘I asked the agent, ‘Do you need their ID?’ She said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I never gave any proof of my role as their guardian.’: Mom urges ‘we need to do better’ after airport fails to protect against child trafficking

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“Who is this child?

Today, she was nameless.

On our flight journey home from Pennsylvania, neither of our daughters’ IDs were requested.

Not at check-in, TSA, or boarding.

Before flying, I considered just bringing their birth certificates but decided on a more formal form of identification in case I was questioned.

Today, I never was asked to give any proof of their identity or my role as their guardian.

At one point, I even asked a TSA agent if she needed to see their identification and she said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’

This is disturbing.

To make matters worse, both of my girls were required to wear masks at the airport as well as on the airplane flight itself. Could you see if they were upset? Could you recognize them?

Do we just look like ‘trustworthy’ people? Were they trying to be considerate and help us get through security quickly? Were they concerned about the new travel guidelines with COVID? I don’t know.

This is ridiculous. We need to do better. Recently there have been a lot of conversations and concerns about child trafficking.

Today, I could have stolen your child and flown to another state with them. No proof of name or identity necessary. Unchecked. Unchallenged.

Thankfully, today I was legally traveling with my two daughters. But they could have been ANYONE. It could have been ANY kid. It could have been YOUR kid.”

Courtesy of Hannah Jean Schafer

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Hannah Jean Schafer. Submit your own story here and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories, and YouTube for our best videos

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