Last month, Rep Carter (D,LA) introduced HR 7223, a bill requiring TSA to “develop guidelines to improve returning [from incarceration] citizens’ access to the TWIC program.” No new funding is authorized by the bill.
Background
Current statute (46 USC 70105) establishes two different types of criminal disqualifications for applicants for the Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC):
Permanent disqualifying criminal offenses (§70105(c)(1)(A)), and
Interim (convicted within 7 years of application) disqualifying criminal offenses (§70105(c)(1)(A)).
Section 70105(c)(2) requires DHS to establish regulations that establish a waiver process for issuing a
transportation security card to an individual with either of the above criminal disqualifications. That waiver process is defined in 49 CFR 1515.7. That subsection provides that TSA may approve a waiver based upon:
The circumstances of the disqualifying act or offense,
Restitution made by the applicant,
Any Federal or State mitigation remedies, and
Other factors that indicate the applicant does not pose a security threat warranting denial of the HME or TWIC
Congressional Findings
Section 1 of the bill establishes the reason that the crafters of the legislation use to justify the requirements in Section 2. After discussing the TWIC program and the economic importance of the port systems in the United States, the findings look at the number of incarcerated people in the United States and notes that:
According to TSA, individuals in the custody of Federal, State, and local prisons are not eligible to apply for a TWIC card until after they have been released from custody.
The appeal and waiver process may take up to 90 days, depending on the applicant’s response and supporting documentation, the complexity of the applicant’s case, and response time for TSA to review conviction details, circumstances, proof of rehabilitation, and whether the person is in the process of rehabilitation before issuing a waiver.
Applying for a TWIC card and beginning the appeal and waiver process prior to a person’s release from Federal, State, and local prisons may increase chances of employment shortly after release.
Guidelines
Section 2 required TSA to establish “guidelines to improve returning citizens’ access to the TWIC program.” Those guidelines would be designed to “assist individuals in custody of Federal, State, and local prisons in pre-applying or preparing applications for TWIC cards and guidelines to assist individuals requesting an appeal or waiver of preliminary determination of ineligibility for TWIC cards.”
Moving Forward
Carter, and all three of his cosponsors {Rep Higgins (R,LA), Rep Thompson (D,MS), and Rep Goldman (D,NY)} are members of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see this bill considered in Committee. I suspect that there will be some ‘soft on crime’ opposition to this bill from some Republicans. Whether it will be sufficient to derail this bill in committee is not clear. While I suspect that there would be some level of bipartisan support for the measure, I am not sure if it would be enough to allow consideration under the suspension of the rules process which requires a super majority for passage.
Commentary
While there is apocryphal evidence that Islamic radicals, neo-Nazis and criminal gangs recruit in US prisons (all folks that we should probably be trying to exclude from the TWIC program), there is little hard evidence on the extent of such recruiting. Even so, it is probably true that prison authorities have a pretty good idea of which releasees are most likely to have been recruited. If that information were available to the TSA as part of their vetting process, the chance of large-scale infiltration of the port infrastructure via the TWIC process would be significantly reduced.
And let’s face it, folks getting out of prison that really want to turn their lives around need to be able to get a decent paying job quickly upon release. A TWIC card is pretty much a ticket to good jobs. The possession of a TWIC by a recently released felon will almost certainly be seen as a sign that someone thinks that that holder has demonstrated some sort of potential at rehabilitation.