TSA Denies Immigration Watch

Ianus · 05-02-2008, 04:20 PM

I guess Mech's wife was right at least according to this article by Irishvoice.The strange thing is I went to New Orleans back in early February '05 when I went to Mardi Gras & had no issues on my return flight going to Philadelphia showing my passport with no visa inside.

Quote:

A 30-YEAR-old Irish undocumented immigrant living in Pearl River, New York has been deported after his status was questioned by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer in a New Orleans airport two weeks ago.

The immigrant, who asked to remain anonymous, was returning from a long weekend in the Big Easy with his fiancée when he was asked by the on duty TSA agent where his required visa stamp was in his passport. Unable to provide the necessary stamp or documents, the man was taken into custody and subsequently deported back to Ireland the following day.

The Irish Voice contacted the TSA, and a representative was unfamiliar with the New Orleans case. The spokesperson, however, assured us that it is not the position of TSA officers to ask an individual about immigration status.

“The job of our officers is security, to make sure that a person’s government official identification matches the individual that is presenting it,” explained Laura Uselding, spokesperson for the TSA.

Uselding did explain that the TSA works in partnership with local law enforcement in every city. “We don’t make arrests. If we find something wrong like a person carrying an excess amount of currency or if they have drugs on them then we will contact the relevant law enforcement,” she said.

A representative for the Emerald Isle Immigration Center told the Irish Voice last week that rumors are rampant within the Irish community, making people afraid to travel.

“Of course you always take the risk when traveling inland if you are undocumented but I think this officer in New Orleans was just on some sort of power trip. There is no law that is coming into effect or anything else that we are aware of to suggest otherwise,” he said.

VJB2 · 05-02-2008, 04:58 PM

Jesus. All because of a nosy TSA employee.

Ianus · 05-02-2008, 06:47 PM

Yeah,it just gives more confirmation not to fly if you don't have government issued & valid US ID.

VJB2 · 05-02-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ianus

Yeah,it just gives more confirmation not to fly if you don't have government issued & valid US ID.

It's just so hypocritical..

“The job of our officers is security, to make sure that a person’s government official identification matches the individual that is presenting it,” explained Laura Uselding, spokesperson for the TSA.

“We don’t make arrests. If we find something wrong like a person carrying an excess amount of currency or if they have drugs on them then we will contact the relevant law enforcement,” she said.

Stupid. He was arrested, and the the reason given was because he did not have a Visa stamp. That isn't their job, there's ICE for a reason. Their job is to make sure the person is the person they claim to be, and he provided a valid proof of I.D...

That TSA employee must feel so damn accomplished.

MechEngineer · 05-05-2008, 12:21 PM

Yea, TSA employees aren't even trained to determine whether a Visa stamp is valid or not. It was probably one of them ALIPAC TSA employees. haha

RahmanIV · 05-10-2008, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MechEngineer

Yea, TSA employees aren't even trained to determine whether a Visa stamp is valid or not. It was probably one of them ALIPAC TSA employees. haha

I thought all of ALIPAC jobs were taken by illegal immigrants. It gives them an excuse to sit on their lazy butts and complain about their declining welfare checks.

05-11-2008, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RahmanIV

I thought all of ALIPAC jobs were taken by illegal immigrants. It gives them an excuse to sit on their lazy butts and complain about their declining welfare checks.

That claim is untrue. I can't get a job at GAP... They can...

HOPEFULDREAMER · 05-11-2008, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanjaya Malakar

That claim is untrue. I can't get a job at GAP... They can...

Rahman was being sarcastic.

MechEngineer · 05-13-2008, 03:53 PM

Update**

TSA yesterday received their routine national briefing, in which they are instructed NOT to be checking the Visa stamps on passports. Apparently, the job description of TSA employees did include checking for suspicious or expired visa stamps. However, my wife and her co-workers admit they had never heard of such a thing. They even get tested every year on different routines they must look for and never get tested on the Visa aspect. Regardless, they are now instructed not to be nosy! lol

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TSA Denies Immigration Watch