(Washington, DC) – Today the House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight Chairman Brad Miller sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff, saying that, although he is glad that DHS has reversed its determination that foreign graduate oceanography students who applied for access to U.S. ports were security threats, the Chairman urges Secretary Chertoff to grant port access to qualified students so they can efficiently carry out their research tasks.
The reversal came after Chairman Miller sent a letter to Secretary Chertoff questioning why foreign graduate oceanography students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were determined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to be a “security threat”—and were sent a letter to that effect—when they simply mistakenly applied for a transportation worker identification card (TWIC). The students are enrolled in a joint oceanography and applied oceanographic science and engineering program run by MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and frequently work on research ships and in designated secure areas. To access those areas, a person must possess a TWIC or be accompanied by someone who possesses a TWIC.
TSA recently agreed to reissue a letter to the students stating only that the students were ineligible for access because of their visa category.
“I am very appreciative of this action by TSA, and I know the students are. These students, who are some of the most talented oceanographic students in the world, had no idea what impact such a determination would have on their future ability to travel or work,” Miller said.
The Chairman suggested that TSA use its authority under 49 CFR 1572.105(8)(xi) to grant port access to qualified foreign students. “These students need to be able to conduct their research without unnecessary restrictions,” he said.
Chairman Miller pointed out that “TSA permits numerous non-immigrants to obtain TWICs, including foreign students at various maritime academies, foreign crewmen, treaty traders and investors, some business visitors, persons coming in under NAFTA and Australians in specialty occupations.”
Since TSA’s regulations allow the agency to grant a TWIC to persons that a legal immigration status comparable to the other categories in the regulations, “it appears that these students are no different that the foreign maritime students who are already eligible for TWICs, but TSA has not extended this right to other foreign students with similar proven needs to access U.S. ports,” Chairman Miller stated. “I hope that MIT and the other universities with oceanographic programs and research ships are able to work with TSA to give these students the access they need to carry out their studies and research.”
TSA earlier had taken a much harder line. While admitting that the students were not a security risk, but simply did not have one of the visa categories eligible for the TWIC, TSA refused to withdraw its letters, stating publicly and to the Committee that they simply represented “an unfortunate choice of words in a bureaucratic letter.”
For more information, including the Chairman’s June 6th and July 17th letters to Secretary Chertoff, please see the Committee’s website.
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