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Government/Legislation
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TSA takes over ID checks at airports across the U.S.
Changes are currently occurring at airport security checkpoints in international airports across the United States. Government employees now will carry black lights and magnifying loupes, or small magnifying glasses, instead of simply verifying identification by a visual scan. This includes inspection of passengers’ identification, passports, and boarding passes. The change is occurring due to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) decision to take over the job of identification checks and provide additional layers of security to the nation’s airports. The TSA employees have received on-the-job training utilizing the tools, along with the education to recognize fraudulent identification and spot behavioral cues.
In the past, the process of ID checking was a simple visual screen; now, TSA workers will pass a black light and magnifier over the driver’s license or passport. The ultra-violet light highlights holograms embedded in state identification cards. The TSA agents are trained to identify each state’s hologram and detect fraudulent documents. The magnification detects doctored passports and exposes ink tampering and fraudulent printing.
It is not expected that the changes will result in any long-term delays at the security checkpoints. However, if an ID is encased, it may need to be removed, resulting in a slower process. The past year has served as a trial run for this program in many airports, and has resulted in numerous arrests for fraudulent identification activity. With Congress assisting in funding, 1,300 new TSA security officers will be hired to help carry out the new task. By the end of the month, the new system will be completely implemented at the 450 airports that the TSA operates.
Sources: www.tsa.gov, www.latimes.com, www.nola.com
Beginning June 2009, new document requirements at U.S. land/sea borders
As a further requirement of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), beginning June 1, 2009, U.S. citizens traveling between the United States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda via land or sea may be required to present a valid U.S. passport or other acceptable document as determined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As previously reported in CWT Traveler, effective January 31, 2008, travelers entering the United States by land or sea from the U.S., Canada or the Caribbean have been required to present either a passport or a birth certificate with another government-issued photo ID to gain entry. These requirements replaced the former policy of allowing an oral declaration of citizenship at U.S. borders. The June 1, 2009 rule will limit the number of documents accepted at borders, and will require travelers to present “a single WHTI-compliant document denoting both citizenship and identity.” A list of acceptable documents can be found at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Website.
Sources: http://travel.state.gov, Travel Weekly, MSNBC.com
