Senators Cite LB Woman's 'Strip Search' Claim in Letter to TSA

A Long Beach woman’s allegation that she was strip searched at John F. Kennedy International airport was cited in a letter New York politicians sent to the Transportation Security Administration that urges the agency to provide passenger advocates at airport screenings.

Lenore Zimmerman, 85, who was boarding a plane to Florida at the JetBlue terminal, said TSA agents took her into a private room and had her raise her blouse and remove her undergarments after she refused a body scan, fearing the scanner might interfere with her defibrillator, in November.

Now Senator Charles Schumer and State Senator Michael Gianaris have sent a letter to Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole that includes Zimmerman’s accusation, as well as similar allegations lodged against the TSA by other elderly women, advocating for a trained passenger advocate to be present during airport screenings to “help strike the right balance between security and protecting vulnerable travelers,” Reuters reports.

In a statement accompanying the letter, Gianaris wrote:

"I appreciate the TSA's work to keep air passengers safe, but passengers should not be humiliated and degraded during their travels.”

The TSA denies that the women were strip-searched.