The Transportation Safety Administration failed to identify 73 people on terrorism-related watchlists who were hired in the aviation industry, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security has revealed.
In a document published following an audit by the DHS, which oversees the TSA, the agency was found to have missed 73 people with terrorism-related category codes being employed by “major airlines, airport vendors, and other employers”.
Thousands of biographical records held by the TSA were found to be missing or incomplete, and the DHS said the agency was relying on airports to send it data on the more than 2 million aviation workers it vets.
One and a half thousand records were found to contain first initials instead of a name; 14,000 immigrants employed had no alien registration number and 75,000 no passport number; and 87,000 had no social security number on file.
“TSA did not identify these individuals through its vetting operations because it is not authorised to receive all terrorism-related categories under current interagency watchlisting policy,” the DHS document stated, adding that the agency had “acknowledged that these individuals were cleared for access to secure airport areas despite representing a potential transportation security threat”.
The revelation came the same week as news that the TSA, which was founded in November 2001 and is responsible for security at all US airports, failed 95% of so-called “red team” tests, in which undercover federal agents attempt to smuggle explosives and weaponry aboard aircraft.
“These numbers never look good out of context,” DHS secretary Jeh Johnson said, adding that the training and technology used would be re-evaluated.
That failure led to the removal of Melvin Carraway, the TSA’s acting chief. Coast guard admiral Peter Neffenger, who was nominated to lead the TSA in April by President Obama, is still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.
Such stories involving the TSA are not unfamiliar. In 2013, a report by the Government Accountability Office found there was “no evidence” that a $900m screening programme based on behavioural indicators worked.
Rafi Sela, the owner of AR Challenges, an Israeli-based consulting company that specialises in air transport security and operational analysis, told the Guardian the TSA had been facing systemic problems for years, partly because there was no centralised system for the administration of watchlists.
“There is no correlation between the info [the CIA, FBI, US marshall service and other intelligence agencies] generate and absolutely none between them and the DHS,” he said. “It’s very easy to miss terrorists on the watchlist, and the definition of a terrorist is very vague.
“What needs to change is the approach, the total approach to the whole system,” Sela continued. “If you want to really to do transport security the way you should, go after the intent and invest in intelligence, and not check the luggage. Checking the luggage is the most absurd thing to do in security.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
