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Government/Legislation
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DHS report says TRIP does little for redress seekers
In a report dated September 11 and released in October, the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program—T RIP—“in most cases” had done little to improve the situation of the travelers who used the program. This is according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general.
DHS launched TRIP in 2007 as a one-stop shop for travelers listed on the no-fly watch lists in error, or those whose name closely matched a name on the list. The program was intended to efficiently alleviate the complications these travelers would undergo at the airport. While acknowledging that TRIP has brought some centralization and improvements to government traveler redress efforts, Inspector General Richard Skinner found, “Redress-seekers generally do not benefit from their participation in TRIP…Their cases languish for extended periods and are handled inconsistently…sometimes…not brought to the attention of the appropriate agency. In other instances, cases are closed before all indicated agencies have had a chance to review them. Even when cases are properly reviewed, they do not usually produce meaningful results…” He cited room for improvement in security, privacy, reliability, timeliness, performance management, and others.
DHS agreed with 20 of the 24 recommendations in the inspector general’s report, saying some solutions could come into play yet this year, however, said Skinner, “a number of its proposed plans focus on solutions that will take more than a year to develop, rather than near-term corrective actions consistent with the pressing nature of the underlying issues.”
DHS said the Secure Flight program would negate some of the issues, as it will dramatically reduce the number of falsely flagged travelers.
In a statement, National Business Travel Association (NBTA) executive director and COO Michael McCormick said, “NBTA has supported Secure Flight to improve the watch list matching used by airlines but believes the DHS, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and airlines should not wait for Secure Flight to be fully operational to help affected travelers. These weaknesses are one reason NBTA has supported the FAST Redress Act passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, which would clarify how the redress process should operate, expand the areas where redress can be offered and improve the likelihood of obtaining necessary redress funding.”
Most of the issues for which redress is sought are for air travel, but the program also addresses situations for points of entry and visa and passport issues. The program involves nine DHS entities as well as departments of State and Justice.
Sources: btnonline.com, dhs.gov
