A migrant who entered the United States illegally but was released due to a lack of detention space has pleaded guilty to assaulting two TSA officers at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) after he presented a boarding pass with a fake name.
Jhon Raul Vizcaino Ramirez entered the United States from Mexico in 2022 and was picked up by Customs and Border Patrol agents near Yuma, Arizona, in October of that year.
Due to a lack of space to detain Ramirez, he was released from detention but subsequently remained in the United States illegally.
Ramirez remained under the radar until November 3, 2025, when he attempted to enter the TSA checkpoint at Las Vegas with a boarding pass in someone else’s name.
TSA agents on duty at the checkpoint demanded that Ramirez show his ID, but he refused and went on to assault the agent by striking him in the face. Other TSA officers attempted to detain Ramirez, but he violently resisted, assaulting several agents, including kicking one in the face.
At a court hearing on Tuesday, Ramirez pleaded guilty to two counts of interference with security screening personnel; two counts of assault, resisting, or impeding a person assisting certain officers or employees; and one count of entry by false pretenses to secure an area of any airport.
Ramirez faces a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, in addition to a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Ramirez is now being held in custody ahead of his sentencing on September 10. Following the conclusion of the case, he will be handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Transportation Security Administration has witnessed a worrying uptick in assaults on its officers at airports across the United States in recent months. During the last partial government shutdown, during which TSA officers had to work without pay, assaults on airport security officers surged by as much as 500%.
In March, a Southwest Airlines passenger at Dallas Love Field assaulted two TSA agents and seriously injured a police officer when he turned up at the security checkpoint without a valid REAL ID.
33-year-old Idress Vinay Solomon wanted to fly to Oakland, California, on March 10, but he did not have a REAL ID. He was directed to another lane where he would need to verify his identity via the agency’s $45 fee ConfirmID process, but this was unsuccessful.
Solomon allegedly became verbally abusive and aggressive and then punched the TSA officer in the back of the neck. He then allegedly set upon a responding Dallas Police Department officer, punching him in the face multiple times and with such force that the officer sustained a serious orbital blowout fracture to his left eye.
