Twice Deported and Freed by a Judge, DHS Says. Then a Bomb Claim on United 2174.

Written By TNT Staff, Posted on November 11, 2026

A man who, according to the Department of Homeland Security, had been deported from the United States twice is in a Louisiana jail without bond after allegedly telling the crew of United Airlines Flight 2174 that he had a bomb and trying to get into the cockpit. The flight was a Boeing 737 MAX 9 from Newark to New Orleans late Monday night, carrying 46 passengers and six crew members.

DHS identified him as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a Honduran national. In an official statement on X Tuesday night, the department said he “has been removed from the country twice and was released a third time, pending removal proceedings, by a judge.” ICE said the same night that he “should never have been in our country in the first place.”

What happened on Flight 2174

United said in a statement that the flight “landed safely following a disruptive incident involving a passenger onboard” and that “law enforcement met the aircraft upon arrival,” Fox News reported. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office told WDSU that Gomez-Alberto, 34, “began acting irrationally” and told crew members he had a bomb. Deputies arrested him without incident at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

The crew treated it as a hijacking. Simple Flying reported that the pilots set their transponder to 7500, the code for unlawful interference, and warned other United flights of an attempted “level four” threat, the most serious category, which signals an attempted cockpit breach. Responder radio traffic obtained by WWL-TV captured the plan on the ground: “pilots are going to stay in the cockpit with the door locked.” He was taken into custody at the rear of the plane at 12:13 a.m. No bombs were found.

He was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing. ICE lodged a detainer on Nov. 10. According to WDSU, the FBI says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana will decide whether to bring federal charges. As of Wednesday morning, TNT found no federal charge announced. He is presumed innocent.

Three crossings, two removals, one release

DHS gave the same history to several outlets. Border Patrol caught Gomez-Alberto after he crossed illegally near El Indio, Texas, in September 2011, and he was removed. He crossed again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014 and was removed a second time. In 2019, Border Patrol arrested him a third time near San Ysidro, California. Then, according to DHS as reported by Fox News and the New York Post, he was released from ICE custody in January 2020 after an immigration judge ordered his release pending removal proceedings. Local officials said his most recent home was in the Bronx, ABC7 New York and the Post reported.

“He has been removed from the country twice and was released a third time, pending removal proceedings, by a judge.” — U.S. Department of Homeland Security

That’s the catch-and-release story in brief. A man removed twice came back a third time and was let go to wait for a hearing. Nearly seven years later, the government hasn’t explained publicly why a man with two prior removals went before an immigration judge instead of having his old removal order reinstated, why the judge let him go, or what has happened to his case since. Those questions should be put to the immigration court and to DHS, with documents rather than talking points.

It’s also worth being precise about when this happened. January 2020 was during President Trump’s first term. Immigration judges work for the Justice Department, not for any city. The release wasn’t a sanctuary-city decision. It came from a federal system that, under both parties, has too often released people to wait for hearings it couldn’t hold quickly.

Where sanctuary policy does come in

Sanctuary law matters for what happens after an arrest. ICE lodged its detainer with Jefferson Parish. In New York City, where he lived, that detainer would carry far less weight. Under Section 9-131 of the city’s Administrative Code, the Department of Correction can honor an ICE detainer only if ICE brings a warrant signed by a federal judge and the person has a qualifying violent or serious conviction or is a possible match on the terrorist watch list. TNT found no reporting that New York officials ever had him in custody or turned down a detainer for him, and we aren’t claiming they did. But under the city’s rules, an accusation like this one wouldn’t be enough on its own to keep him in jail for ICE.

Passengers on Flight 2174 were lucky. The door held, the crew followed procedure, and nobody was hurt. Policy shouldn’t depend on luck. Twice-removed reentrants should be detained, prosecuted for illegal reentry, and removed. Cities that won’t hand over people already charged with threatening an airliner should have to explain why.

Sources: U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (statements on X, Nov. 10, 2026); United Airlines statement via Fox News; Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office via WDSU and WWL-TV; Simple Flying; New York Post; ABC7 New York (with AP); NYC Administrative Code §9-131.

TNT Staff