Evita Duffy-Alfonso, the daughter of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, has labeled the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) an “unconstitutional agency” following a recent airport encounter.
Duffy-Alfonso described being pressured by TSA agents to bypass body scanners after she was pregnant and concerned about radiation exposure from the devices. She waited 15 minutes for a pat-down that she called “invasive,” noting the agents were “passive-aggressive, rude, and tried to pressure me and another pregnant woman into just walking through the scanner because it’s ‘safe.’”
“The agents were passive-aggressive, rude, and tried to pressure me and another pregnant woman into just walking through the scanner because it’s ‘safe,’” Duffy-Alfonso stated. “After finally getting the absurdly invasive pat-down, I barely made my flight.”
She condemned the TSA for violating constitutional rights: “TSA = unreasonable, warrantless searches of passengers and their property. That means it violates the Fourth Amendment and is therefore unconstitutional.” Duffy-Alfonso also criticized the CLEAR program, which allows travelers to bypass TSA lines through private biometric data submission, calling it a requirement that prioritizes security over basic freedoms.
The TSA, housed under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rather than the Department of Transportation (DOT), has received recent federal funding from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Last month, Noem announced a $1 billion investment in TSA security checkpoint technology nationwide at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. She described it as “the biggest investment in screening technologies in over a decade,” emphasizing the agency’s duty to ensure both traveler safety and timely arrivals.
Duffy-Alfonso, 26, is the oldest of nine children of Sean Duffy and Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy. Her husband, Michael Alfonso, is running for Congress in Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District. The TSA has not responded to requests for comment on the criticism, nor have DHS and DOT provided responses to inquiries about its operations.