‘Skydive in your own country,’ Texas company tells undocumented thrill-seekers

A North Texas skydiving company is being called racist for rules posted on its website that bar anyone in the U.S. illegally from jumping out of one of the company’s planes.

But the company’s owner has doubled down on its stance.

Skydive Tandem Greenville, also known as Dallas Skydive Lodge, has a series of “requirements” posted on the company’s website — sort of a “know-before-you-go” set of disclaimers for tandem skydivers. They detail the maximum weight per skydiver and the company’s minimum age requirements.

But rules that prompted the accusations were these:

“You must be able to read/write/speak fluent English so you can understand and fill out legal paperwork, and we can communicate.”

That rule is followed by a more direct reference toward immigrants:

“If you are in this country illegally please go home and skydive in your own country. We don’t want any money you obtained in the USA illegally.”

The company’s Facebook page has received hundreds of negative reviews since Wednesday.

“I was going to go tomorrow, but I don’t support racism,” one reviewer wrote.

“It’s very unprofessional to promote a racial agenda in your business place,” wrote another.

The company, which is located about 40 miles east of Dallas, is owned by Hank Schraeder. He doubled down on his stance in a Facebook post Thursday in a response to the negative reviews.

“Appears we will have hundreds of fake reviews by the time the left wing illegal alien community gets done lying. None of these people have ever jumped here,” the post reads. “The ‘racist’ card is always the first liberals pull when the question of illegal presence in this country comes up.”

The Dallas Morning News reported that photos were also circulating on social media showing Schraeder holding up a sign that reads “Trump Wetback Round-up 2016.” He told the newspaper he had the sign made but denied that he racially profiles any prospective customers.

This story was originally published July 12, 2018 at 4:17 PM with the headline "‘Skydive in your own country,’ Texas company tells undocumented thrill-seekers."