This Black family is planning to sue an airline company after they wrongly accused them of human trafficking of their White adoptive daughter. Bailey, 21 says that she feels like a victim of racial profiling, and says had the races been reversed in the situation no one would have batted an eyelash.
Lakeyjanay Bailey – a 21-year-old Black woman from Colorado was traveling with her adoptive White sister Olivia from Denver to Texas when she was confronted by the police officials and held back at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport and asked about how they were related.
The Frontier airlines raised their possible concern of 4-year old Olivia being a victim of human trafficking.
As soon as the flight landed at DFW, authorities were waiting for the pair inside the gate.
Bailey recalls:
"There were two police officers, and they came up to me and said, 'Is it okay if we talk to you?'"
One of the officers turned to Olivia and asked her how she was related to Bailey and then proceeded to ask Bailey's mother how she was related to the child.
Officers continued to interrogate the mom and the social service worker worked on gathering information to confirm the relationship between the siblings.
Frontier Airlines Suspected Lakeyjanay Bailey of Human Trafficking Her Adopted Sister https://t.co/pdXMHh88D4
— spook (@thespook97) July 24, 2021
The officers followed Bailey and her sister to the baggage section to meet with the person who was coming to pick them up from the airport.
According to a DFW Department of Public Safety incident report, the officers apparently had responded to a request from Frontier Airlines asking for law enforcement to meet Bailey and her sister at the gate due to a passenger being concerned about a possible "human trafficking incident involving a female born in 2001 who was traveling with a female born in 2017."
That's awful. Sorry they disrespectd this young lady. I agree, if the races were reversed, nobody would've batted an eyelash
— Azura Unique Mau (@AzuraUniqueMau) July 27, 2021
Bailey says she was a victim of racial profiling.
"If the roles were changed and it was a White person walking off the plane with a Black person, like a Black child, I feel like things would be different," she said.
Colorado woman claims Frontier Airlines employees falsely accused her of trafficking her white 4-year-old sister. https://t.co/ku2B2A1qdI
— Complex (@Complex) July 26, 2021
Frontier Airlines issued the following statement to ABC 7, which read in part.
"A concern was raised during the flight by another passenger who was sitting near the woman and child and suspected human trafficking."
"That passenger approached the flight crew with those concerns and subsequently completed a written report during the flight to document her observations."
According to the statement, the flight's captain says that racism has nothing to do with how the situation was handled:
"The captain was notified and felt an obligation to report the matter. Air travel is one of the most common means for human trafficking."
"Race played no part in the actions of the flight crew who were following established protocols."
Queen and her lil sis better get that bag now$$$💰💰💰
— Tropicana TREE 🍊 (🇮🇹) (@TreeTropicana) July 26, 2021
Now Bailey and her family are considering filing a lawsuit against Frontier Airlines.