June 6,2008
The Honorable Michael Chertoff
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Lane, S. W.
Washington, D.C. 20528
Dear Secretary Chertoff:
It recently came to my attention that a number of foreign graduate oceanography students who had applied to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to allow them access to American ports were denied this credential and told that they have been determined to "pose a security threat." (See attached letter dated May 1,2008 from TSA to one of the applicants [name deleted].)' A "security threat" is defined in TSA's regulations as someone "whom TSA determines or suspects of posing a threat to national security; to transportation security; or of terr~rism."T~h is stigmatizing determirlation. by TSA was not based on any such finding, but simply on the fact that the students' visas (F-1 and J-1) were not on TSA's list of eligible visa categories for a TWIC.
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