Port Workers Start Enrolling for Security Cards
Truckers, longshore workers and thousands of other port workers in Long Beach, Calif., and Los Angeles have started enrolling for mandatory security cards now required by the federal government.
The controversial tamper-resistant cards, known as a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), can only be obtained by legal residents, which may eliminate hundreds of illegal immigrants who operate as independent truckers picking up cargo at the ports. Also, no felons will be eligible for TWIC cards, which raised objections earlier this year by longshore workers and other port personnel.
Workers who have unescorted access to secure areas must have the cards by a deadline to be set some time next year. The cards contain a biometric template of the worker’s fingerprints and will be read by card readers. Also, the U.S. Coast Guard will verify TWIC cards when making vessel and facility inspections.
The two ports began signing up workers Dec. 12, with federal and local officials manning an enrollment center at 301 E. Ocean Blvd. in downtown Long Beach. Another temporary enrollment center was set up at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 601 S. Palos Verdes St. in San Pedro, Calif., near the Port of Los Angeles.
“We expected about 250 applicants in Long Beach [the first day],” said Nico Melendez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is overseeing the program.
Melendez said he estimated about 63,000 workers and independent contractors will have to enroll in the system at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. In the near future, TSA hopes to have mobile centers set up at the ports to facilitate enrollment.
Port security became a hot topic after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 mandated that the TSA and the U.S. Coast Guard set up an identification-card system for anyone going beyond the terminal gates at the nation’s ports.
To get a card, workers must undergo a criminal background check to see if they have been arrested or charged with any major crimes within the last seven years or have been in jail during the last five years. They must be fingerprinted and sit for a digital photo. The biometric cards cost $132.50 and are valid for five years.
The TWIC card enrollment program was launched slowly, starting at the small port of Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 16. The program was expanded to Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 1. The Port of Oakland became the first California port to begin enrollment on Nov. 8.
Mike O’Brien, port facilities security director for the Oakland port, said as of Dec. 10, 890 workers had registered for the TWIC cards with another 8,100 workers to go.
So far, 24 ports have jumpstarted the TWIC process. By fall 2008, 1 million workers at more than 147 ports across the nation should be enrolled. The ports of San Francisco and San Diego will launch their TWIC enrollment programs early next year, Melendez said.
“So far 15,000 workers have enrolled and 10,000 cards have been issued,” said Melendez, explaining it takes about seven to 10 days to get a card once the paperwork is completed.
Port officials have been working with federal agencies to make sure there is a smooth transition from enrollment to enforcement. “We have asked TSA to help us monitor who is going through the process, so whenever the deadline is near for implementation, we know how many people we need to get through this,” said Port of Long Beach spokesperson Art Wong. “We don’t want to find out at the last minute that half the people [here] were not able to be enrolled.”—Deborah Belgum
