DHS Agencies Announce Enrollment Dates for TWIC in Six Ports
February 15, 2008
TSA Public Affairs: (571) 227-2829
U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs: (202) 372-4620
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced that enrollment in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program will begin at six more locations in the coming weeks. This program ensures that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a known security threat.
TWIC enrollment began Oct. 16, 2007 at the Port of Wilmington, Del. The addition of these six locations will bring the number of fixed enrollment centers open for enrollment to 78. Ultimately, the program will be rolled out to 147 fixed enrollment sites and will vet more than 1 million workers through 2008.
"TWIC is one of the world's most advanced interoperable biometric systems and raises the bar on port security," said the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Maurine Fanguy, program director for TWIC. "We are off to a strong start with more than 90,000 enrollments in the first 120 days."
Today, the TSA released specific dates for the following ports:
- Tampa, Fla. – Feb. 21, 2008
- Anacortes, Wash. – Feb. 22, 2008
- Cincinnati – Feb. 22, 2008
- Richmond, Calif. – Feb. 22, 2008
- South Louisiana – Feb. 22, 2008
- Norfolk, Va. – Feb. 29, 2008
Workers at these ports, as well as another 70 where enrollment has begun and two that begin next week, are able to pre-enroll for TWIC on the TSA Web site (www.tsa.gov/twic). Pre-enrollment is intended to speed up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule an appointment to complete the in-person enrollment process.
More information on the TWIC program is available at www.tsa.gov/twic and additional information on port security is available at the U.S. Coast Guard's Homeport site at http://homeport.uscg.mil by clicking on the Maritime Security link.
