More “Government Transparency”? Sure Looks Like It.
Remember a month ago or so, when the TSA flatly denied news reports that illegal immigrants were being allowed to board US commercial flights without proper ID? You know, after Border Patrol union officials had disclosed the practice, flatly stated it was occurring, and questioned it? When TSA said, in a press release to multiple media outlets,
“These reports are false. A Notice to Appear, issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), is not an acceptable form of ID at the TSA checkpoint.”
Do I really have to tell you what they’re saying today? After all, haven’t we seen this Administration backpedal enough since January 2009 to know what’s coming next?
Hell, I’m gonna tell you anyway. Here’s a quote from a 7 August 2014 letter from TSA to Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-TX:
…” If a passenger does not have an acceptable form of identification, then the passenger is allowed to present two other forms of identification. One of the two forms of identification must bear the individual’s name and other identifying information such as photo, address, phone number, social security number, or date of birth. TSA may assess a variety of government issued documents to establish passenger identity. The I-862 form may be used along with another form of identification in this instance. As part of the issuance process for Form I-862, the person undergoes a biographic systems check, and a biometric systems check against both the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System and the Automated Biometric Identification System prior to the issuance of Form I-862. TSA needs to be able to assess a wide range of information proffered by a passenger in order to investigate the passenger’s identity and make sure that watchlist matching has occurred.”
“If a passenger can only present a Form I-862, TSA will attempt to establish the passenger’s identity through DHS partner Components, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If other DHS Components are able to provide corroborating information (such as that the I-862 was issued to an individual with the name provided) to permit TSA to verify an individual’s identity when taken together with all other information available, the passenger is permitted into the screening checkpoint to undergo screening.
Yep. If the claimed name matches and the individual can present no other info, the guy or gal flies. Gee, you don’t suppose someone could POSSIBLY use someone else’s name or fake such a form, do you? Especially since the form is allegedly available on the Internet?
Sheesh. Ya know, I really wish the current Administration would quit p!ssing on my leg and telling me it’s raining.
It’s getting old. And I can tell p!ss from rain.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Crime, Dumbass Bullshit, Illegal Immigrants, Politics
So, maybe I should get a Form I-862 and use it next time I travel and see how it flies with local TSA. I am curious now. Just show up with the form and no license or anything else, that I will show them unless necessary, and see what they do.
Thanks again Obama for letting illegals and possible terrorists fly the friendly skies of America. I tell ya, this country is going to hell in a hand cart. I cannot wait for a change to a conservative administration and Congress. IF…we are lucky. With the likes of kiss asses such as John Boehner and his ilk in the Republican party, I am deeply concerned about this year and 2016.
What ever happened to the concept of “statesmen” instead of politicians? True statesmen who cared more for the overall good of our nation and serving it well than their individual egos and desire to stay in office no matter how badly they run the government. Talk about a dying breed, they are long dead and gone. There may be a few left but they will never get through the DNC or the RNC by standing for the best for our country. Anymore it is all about getting into office and staying there. While I would more than welcome a change to a conservative run nation, they will not be statesmen I fear. They will be the usual run of the mill “politicians”. I do believe Reagan absolutely had and even Bush to a lesser degree had an attitude of statesmanship. But I fear we have seen the last of those kind. I do hope and pray not for the sake of America and our future in the world and at home. Offered as just my one humble opinion.
Sparks, just beware… with Form I-862 you might get a complimentary democrat party voters registration card!
It isn’t a matter of picking up the phone and saying “Hey I got a guy named Fernando Gonzalez. Did you issue him an I-862?”. While you implied that in your post, I sincerely hope you don’t really believe that.
The holder of the I-862 has been processed through IDENT, their biometric data is enrolled to IDENT before they are issued the I-862, unless they are already in it then the new information is added as an encounter.
I don’t know if the airports in question are using biometric screening, but it does exist and has been tested at several airports.
The IVCC has access to query IDENT and that is who I presume the screeners would call to verify the I-862 via biographic data if they didn’t have the ability to check biometric data at the screening checkpoint.
I don’t know if this is TSA PR obfuscating or clarifying without releasing too much information (even though everything above is available on DHS own website). Either way I believe that the DHS components are coorperating to ensure that the people flying are the people who have been issued the doccument.
What you say may be true, OSC. But that’s not what the quote from the letter says.
And remember: this is the same agency that less than a month earlier than the letter’s date flatly and publicly denied that the I-862 was being accepted as an identification document for airline flights. Now they’re admitting that it is – provided there is “other corroborating information” on file. An they give a name match to an I-862 known to have been issued as an example of such corroborating information.
Suit yourself. However, frankly I don’t trust them. This Administration has lied about far too many things for me to blithely accept squat they say as fact in the presence of any information to the contrary.
OSC – First, I appreciate your comments and your attempt to clarify a few issues regarding the TSA that, quite frankly, need clarifying. I remember when I was in the airline industry and I would call some TSA manager in the attempt to make sense of one thing or another and the standard answer I received was “we will not discuss out SOP”. Which usually followed with me hanging up the phone and cursing the stupidity of bureaucracy under my breath.
In regards to the Form I-862 and biometrics, wouldn’t a biometric scan at the airport be required in order for the biometric data gathered at the time the Form I-862 was issued to have any value in terms of verifying the identification of a unique individual? And if so, wouldn’t each and every airport be required to have the equipment necessary for biometric verification?
You should have seen the 00:30 flight to Guadalajara almost every night back in 2005. About 30 pax with names like “Jesus Gonzales”, and of course that name would be on the no fly list (Excel spreadsheet). It was brutal at the ticket counter… and not just on the travelers. I don’t know if I can talk about how we were instructed to match names, DOB, etc. at the time but it really sucked.
I think a perfect match would require a biometric scan at the airport and in some cases that is possible, but I think what they do is call in looking to match the biographical data (name, age, height, weight, etc). It is probably an 80% solution at best.
I think were we disagree Hondo is that TSA only said that an I-862 alone is not sufficient ID. That is true and remains true. The clarification is that people with only an I-862 can fly, if TSA is able to verify their identity through DHS partner agencies. They didn’t say that they would call the IVCC and check, probably because of what GDContractor mentioned. The SOP for screening and Travel Document checkers are marked Security Sensitive, so they cannot just announce to the media how they do it. I cannot either, I am simply guessing how they do it based on the publicly available information.
This is why I hate flying now. This, and the jackwagon who coughed on me for 6 hours the last time I flew anywhere.
If you find out where the Wayback Machine is, would you let me know?
I’d rather have the TARDIS.