Welcome To America
Some foreign graduate students in the US got quite a shock, courtesy of TSA. They had applied for a newly required ID card which would allow them to work around ships and docks and received letters refusing them the cards which contained some really interesting language. From today's NY Times:
A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.
What the student, Wilken-Jon von Appen, received in return was a letter that not only turned him down but added an ominous warning from John M. Busch, a security administration official: “I have determined that you pose a security threat.”
Similar letters have gone to 5,000 applicants across the country who have at least initially been turned down for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an ID card meant to guard against acts of terrorism, agency officials said Monday. [Emphasis added]
Now there's something which is going to look great in Mr. von Appen's resume: "I have determined that you pose a security threat." Mr. von Appen isn't a security "risk," he is a "threat."
When pressed, the TSA officials admitted that the language was perhaps a little strong and that the letters might be changed in the future. There are, however, no plans to retract the letters with the offensive phrase and reissue them.
Ms. Howe and Maurine Fanguy, who oversees the new ID card program, said that most foreign students did not qualify for the identity cards, but that the letters were not intended to label the recipients as potential terrorists. (Some applicants are also turned down because of criminal records.)
All the tap dancing in the world isn't going to change the fact that our government has labeled an international student as a security threat, which implies that the student is in fact a terrorist. And that might have some short term consequences. The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which is also home to the Immigration agencies. Will the students suddenly find their student visas cancelled? Will they be able to fly home for holidays? Will they be allowed back into the US? Will they even be able to board a plane for travel within the US?
TSA tells us that of course their determination will not have such an effect, but I'm betting that about 5,000 names have been added to the airlines "Watch List."
Heckuva job, TSA.
252 days.
A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.
What the student, Wilken-Jon von Appen, received in return was a letter that not only turned him down but added an ominous warning from John M. Busch, a security administration official: “I have determined that you pose a security threat.”
Similar letters have gone to 5,000 applicants across the country who have at least initially been turned down for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, an ID card meant to guard against acts of terrorism, agency officials said Monday. [Emphasis added]
Now there's something which is going to look great in Mr. von Appen's resume: "I have determined that you pose a security threat." Mr. von Appen isn't a security "risk," he is a "threat."
When pressed, the TSA officials admitted that the language was perhaps a little strong and that the letters might be changed in the future. There are, however, no plans to retract the letters with the offensive phrase and reissue them.
Ms. Howe and Maurine Fanguy, who oversees the new ID card program, said that most foreign students did not qualify for the identity cards, but that the letters were not intended to label the recipients as potential terrorists. (Some applicants are also turned down because of criminal records.)
All the tap dancing in the world isn't going to change the fact that our government has labeled an international student as a security threat, which implies that the student is in fact a terrorist. And that might have some short term consequences. The TSA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which is also home to the Immigration agencies. Will the students suddenly find their student visas cancelled? Will they be able to fly home for holidays? Will they be allowed back into the US? Will they even be able to board a plane for travel within the US?
TSA tells us that of course their determination will not have such an effect, but I'm betting that about 5,000 names have been added to the airlines "Watch List."
Heckuva job, TSA.
252 days.
Labels: Terra Terra Terra
posted by Diane at 3:54 AM
2 Comments:
One can only hope that the next president ends this nonsense. It does us no good and probably much harm.
In America, if you are smart enough to be able to count to ten without using your fingers, you're a threat.
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