Who knew that many of the unarmed security guards at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport are of Ethiopian origin? For that matter, who knew there were so many Ethiopians working in any capacity at Reagan National and Washington Dulles International? Or that many have worked there as long as 15 years? Or that many are not yet fluent in English?

And who knew that that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) intercepted 145 firearms in Virginia airports last year — 41 of them at Reagan National?

Apparently, the Trump administration pronunciamento that English be made the official language of the United States has prompted authorities to require that all security officers pass an English-language proficiency exam. Now Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly, VA-11, and Don Beyer, VA-08, have intervened on behalf of the Ethiopians. So reports DC News Now.

The new exam, the congresspersons write in a letter to the chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, “threatens to displace skilled, experienced workers who have provided invaluable service to our airports for many years.”

32BJ SEIU, a union representing airport service workers at airports in the area, noted that security workers will be out of work by the end-of-March deadline, “NOT based on job performance issues, but because they struggled with the interface of a new, timed computer test, allegedly to test their English proficiency.”

“Less on-the-job experience can lead to more mistakes, accidents, and overlooked hazards–risks that must be carefully considered in any policy affecting airport security staffing,” the congresspersons’ letter read.

The Ethiopians in question, it appears, work for a contract firm, Global Security Associates LLC. The New York-based company, listed on SecurityOfficerHQ.com, does not have a website, but it lists 300 employees. Some work in the New York airports. There is no indication how many are Ethiopian.

It turns out that Northern Virginia airports are a hotspot of Ethiopian employment. “Sixty percent of the retail and food workers at the D.C. airports are Ethiopians, making the D.C. airports one of the biggest employers of Ethiopians in the country. The poor working conditions at Reagan National and Dulles have an outsized impact on the D.C. area’s Ethiopian community,” states the UNITE HERE Local 23 union website.

“We all know the airport makes money. But I only make $9.50 an hour,” says Kasahun Belahu, a utility worker at Ronald Reagan profiled by UNITE HERE. “I can’t afford rent. I could not send money back home to help my mother before she passed away. What’s happening to our community is really sad. I did not expect jobs at the airport would be like this.”

Taking note of the 41 gun interceptions at Reagan National, the Connolly-Beyer letter says that “efficient security is more important now than ever.” I can find no indication that Ethiopians work for the TSA. Nor is there any indication in the D.C. News Now article of how indispensable English fluency is for the security-related jobs they do occupy. The controversy does raise a question: if an Ethiopian security guard speaking only Amharic encountered an emergency situation, how many other Reagan National employees would understand him?

Whatever the merits of this particular controversy, it shows how dramatically the demographics of Virginia — particularly Northern Virginia — are changing. And the culture, economics, and politics along with them.

— JAB