Narrative:

I was informed that an unescorted deportee was being put on our plane. I informed gate agents I did not want deportee aboard due to potential security problems with having a person on the plane against his/her will. Gate agents called supervisor and several supervisors came to the cockpit and told me they would call the operations manager if I didn't take the passenger and that this was routine. I politely reiterated to them that; while I was not trying to cause a problem; as the captain of the aircraft I had final say over safety and security issues and that even the operations manager could not override me but I would be happy to talk to him about it and explain my reasoning. I made sure that I told them clearly that I would be happy to take the deportee if customs wanted to provide an escort or if we had federal air marshals on board to deal with any potential problems. One of the us customs agents who was guarding the aircraft door also came to the cockpit and stated several times that they do this all the time. He told me that the passenger actually wanted to return to [country of origin]; but when I asked him if that was the case; then why did they escort the passenger to the aircraft rather than just dropping him off at the airport; he did not have an answer for me. When I still objected he asked for my name. A chief pilot then talked to me and tried to get me to take the deportee. I told him I was uncomfortable with it. My first officers completely supported my decision.I believe that having unescorted deportees onboard the aircraft is a huge potential security risk; and a liability for the entire flight crew. They are being put on an aircraft against their will; with nobody on board to deal with them; other than the flight crew; should there be a problem. They are escorted every step of the way to the aircraft because us customs knows that they do not want to get on that aircraft. The question is not why would they cause a problem; the question is why would they not cause a problem? Anytime you force someone to do something against their will; there is a potential for misbehavior. One of the things everybody kept telling me is that this person was non-violent. How do they know that for sure? Just because he/she hadn't been violent while in their custody? I am not in any way implying that deportees are violent or bad people; however I do believe that it is a potential problem if they are unescorted. And while I know that it happens every day; that does not mitigate the risk or make it ok. At one time oxygen generators were shipped regularly as cargo and everybody thought it was safe until something happened. Furthermore the flight operations manual states that if we have marshalls on board; they must be informed of any criminals or deportees on board. If one is to read between the lines one has to assume that the reason the marshalls must be informed of an unescorted deportee is because they are considered a potential security risk.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reported he refused to take an unescorted deportee on a flight even though it was company policy.

Narrative: I was informed that an unescorted deportee was being put on our plane. I informed gate agents I did not want deportee aboard due to potential security problems with having a person on the plane against his/her will. Gate agents called supervisor and several supervisors came to the cockpit and told me they would call the Operations Manager if I didn't take the passenger and that this was routine. I politely reiterated to them that; while I was not trying to cause a problem; as the captain of the aircraft I had final say over safety and security issues and that even the Operations Manager could not override me but I would be happy to talk to him about it and explain my reasoning. I made sure that I told them clearly that I would be happy to take the deportee if customs wanted to provide an escort or if we had federal air marshals on board to deal with any potential problems. One of the US customs agents who was guarding the aircraft door also came to the cockpit and stated several times that they do this all the time. He told me that the passenger actually wanted to return to [Country of Origin]; but when I asked him if that was the case; then why did they escort the passenger to the aircraft rather than just dropping him off at the airport; he did not have an answer for me. When I still objected he asked for my name. A Chief Pilot then talked to me and tried to get me to take the deportee. I told him I was uncomfortable with it. My First Officers completely supported my decision.I believe that having unescorted deportees onboard the aircraft is a huge potential security risk; and a liability for the entire flight crew. They are being put on an aircraft against their will; with nobody on board to deal with them; other than the flight crew; should there be a problem. They are escorted every step of the way to the aircraft because US customs knows that they do not want to get on that aircraft. The question is not why would they cause a problem; the question is why would they NOT cause a problem? Anytime you force someone to do something against their will; there is a potential for misbehavior. One of the things everybody kept telling me is that this person was non-violent. How do they know that for sure? Just because he/she hadn't been violent while in their custody? I am not in any way implying that deportees are violent or bad people; however I do believe that it is a potential problem if they are unescorted. And while I know that it happens every day; that does not mitigate the risk or make it ok. At one time oxygen generators were shipped regularly as cargo and everybody thought it was safe until something happened. Furthermore the Flight Operations Manual states that if we have Marshalls on board; they must be informed of any criminals or deportees on board. If one is to read between the lines one has to assume that the reason the Marshalls must be informed of an unescorted deportee is because they are considered a potential security risk.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.