Stowaway found in plane landing gear after flight from Guatemala to Miami

Authorities discovered a 26-year-old man inside the landing gear compartment of a plane after a flight from Guatemala landed in Miami on Saturday morning.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that the man was being evaluated at a hospital after being discovered on the flight.

The agency said it had “attempted to evade detection in the landing gear compartment of an aircraft arriving from Guatemala” before finally being detained by its officers, according to NBC.

American Airlines in a statement referred to the incident only as “a safety issue,” but said that “American Airlines flight 1182 with service from Guatemala (GUA) to Miami (MIA), arriving at 10:06 am local time, was received by law enforcement, “and added that they were working with law enforcement officers.

The news comes as data The CBP has separately noted that arrests at the southern border have dropped since they peaked in July. CBP data showed 192,000 people were arrested along the southern border in September. Comparatively, in July that number peaked at more than 213,000.

Immigration policy has been a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans, especially former President TrumpDonald Trump Jan. 6 panel faces a double-edged sword with Alex Jones, Roger Stone Trump chases Woodward, Coast on China Republicans seem set to win the midterm elections unless they defeat themselves MORE, have claimed that the Biden administration has not done enough to serve migrants entering the southern border.

At the same time, Democrats have criticized the previous administration’s controversial immigration policies, including a short-lived “zero tolerance” policy in 2018 to separate families at the border seeking asylum.

Speaking in Guatemala in June during her first trip abroad as Vice President, Kamala harrisKamala HarrisPoll: Biden’s job approval earns two points Republicans appear poised to win midterm elections unless they defeat themselves Poll: Harris, Michelle Obama lead for 2024 if Biden does not run MORE He urged potential migrants to the United States from Central American countries to stay home.