TSA agents from airports may be sent to the border.

[RaySharpton]

TSA agents from airports may be sent to the border.

Emails received by KPBS show more than 250 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees have volunteered to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border. TSA workers from San Diego are being asked to volunteer for jobs ranging from transportation, security, and healthcare.

TSA employees will not be conducting immigration duties at ports of entry.

A TSA spokesperson said the agency is assisting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"TSA, like all DHS components, is supporting the DHS effort to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the southwest border. TSA is in the process of soliciting volunteers to support this effort while minimizing operational impact."

A few hundred agents could end up being sent to the border, representing less than 1% of the TSA's 60,000 employees. Emails show DHS is also looking for agents to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 

[kandb]

Wow, hope security at the airports is still at the correct level.

 

[RaySharpton]

Wow, hope security at the airports is still at the correct level.

I was curious how much this might slow up some of the airports with the loss of TSA agents going to the border.

250 out of 6000 60,000 TSA agents doesn't sound like that much, but who knows if they won't take more.

It might slow the process of checking in at some of the busier airports.

 

[JimMIA]

Well, first of all, IF they actually volunteered (the quoted passage doesn't generate much confidence) that doesn't mean they are going. I'm sure their local supervisors won't let so many go that they compromise security. Nor will they let them mess up other agent's vacations...or anything else.

We'd have to take a long look at the source of that information to judge its credibility, but I'm confident TSA management knows what their main job is.

 

[RaySharpton]

Well, first of all, IF they actually volunteered (the quoted passage doesn't generate much confidence) that doesn't mean they are going. I'm sure their local supervisors won't let so many go that they compromise security. Nor will they let them mess up other agent's vacations...or anything else.

We'd have to take a long look at the source of that information to judge its credibility, but I'm confident TSA management knows what their main job is.

I agree.

Here is an article from CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/15/politics/tsa-border-security/index.html

Washington (CNN)The Transportation Security Administration plans to send hundreds of officials to help with efforts to deal with migrant inflows on the southern border just as the busy summer travel season begins, according to an internal email obtained by CNN.

The task of the TSA workers, which a source said will include air marshals, will be to assist temporarily with immigration duties. TSA acknowledged in an internal email the "immediate need" comes with the acceptance of "some risk" of depleted resources in aviation security.
TSA plans for the deployments to involve up to 175 law enforcement officials and as many as "400 people from Security Ops," according to two sources and the email. At least initially, the efforts will not involve uniformed airport screeners, according to the email, which says that some parts of TSA would be asked to contribute "around 10%" of its workforce.

"There is now immediate need for more help from TSA at the SW border," a senior TSA official, Gary Renfrow, wrote in the email to agency regional management. "TSA has committed to support with 400 people from Security Ops" who will be deployed in waves "similar to support for past hurricanes."




Exclusive photos reveal children sleeping on the ground at Border Patrol station
"We also understand that we are accepting some risk as we enter a very busy summer," Renfrow wrote, calling this effort an "additional challenge."
RELATED: Exclusive photos reveal children sleeping on the ground at Border Patrol station
The initial law enforcement teams will be drawn from six cities, according to a source familiar with the plans.
The spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security referred questions to TSA. After this story was published, TSA spokeswoman Jenny Burke said in a statement: "TSA, like all DHS components, is supporting the DHS effort to address the humanitarian and security crisis at the southwest border. TSA is in the process of soliciting volunteers to support this effort while minimizing operational impact."
While airport checkpoint screening may be the most visible part of TSA, Juliette Kayyem, a former DHS official who is a CNN analyst, noted these deployments would draw employees from important behind-the-scenes security work. "That's sweeping airports, that is monitoring activity on the inside and outside of the security line, they're supporting local and state law enforcement," she said.
The assignment comes as the number of illegal border crossings is spiking, with apprehensions at a 10-year high. Some 4,300 active duty and National Guard troops are currently assisting on the border, the acting defense secretary said recently, and Customs and Border Protection shifted 750 of its own officers to assignments with Border Patrol last month. Before her ouster as Homeland Security secretary last month, Kirstjen Nielsen asked for volunteers within the ranks of DHS employees, including TSA, "to assist CBP and ICE in responding to the emergency at the southern border."
Nielsen was replaced by Kevin McAleenan, who led the immigration-focused US Customs and Border Protection, and TSA Administrator David Pekoske was selected as McAleenan's deputy.
That has placed Pekoske in a high-profile position within the department, and the recent email asking for TSA volunteers notes his dual role and describes the border effort as "a high priority for DHS, and our Administrator."


Trump admin considers deporting families with removal orders in order to deter migrants
The deployment will initially include approximately 42 law enforcement officials and grow to about 175, the source said. Officials expect the contingent to ultimately include federal air marshals who typically fly in plain clothes on commercial flights to prevent terror attacks.
Some Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, or VIPR, teams are also expected to be deployed, according to the source. These teams are uniformed patrols of busy transportation hubs such as airports and train stations.
That deployment would result in a decrease of about 8% to federal air marshal operations and a 20% decrease to VIPR patrol operations, according to the source, who said TSA currently has about 31 VIPR teams.
After legal training, the law enforcement officials will be designated as immigration officers and assist Customs and Border Protection officers and agents with their work, according to a source familiar with the plans.
The email indicates the bulk of the deployment will be non-screening staffers who work for TSA's federal security directors. Second priority will be inspectors; a 2018 post on the TSA website describes that job as conducting "inspections, assessments and investigations of airlines and individuals to determine how well they comply with regulations."


DHS asks military for more help dealing with influx of migrants
The April memo from Nielsen specified several areas of need at the border, such as providing transportation, meal distribution, and health care. Some of the work requires specialized experience, such as medical or legal training.
The deployments will last between 45 and 60 days, "although it could be longer," the email says.
It emphasizes with bolded uppercase letters that Transportation Security Officers who man airport security checkpoints should not be sent to the border. "NO UNIFORMED OFFICERS OF CANINE HANDLERS ARE ELIGIBLE AT THIS MOMENT," the email says.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...igrants-vows-wont-slow-air-travel/3678091002/

TSA sending up to 400 workers to southern border, but says it won't slow air travel
Alan Gomez, USA TODAYPublished 10:51 a.m. ET May 15, 2019 | Updated 11:32 a.m. ET May 15, 2019


For the frequent fliers out there, life just got a little bit easier thanks to technology. Veuer's Natasha Abellard has the story. Buzz60

The Transportation Security Administration is preparing to send up to 400 workers to the southern border to assist with the rising number of Central American migrants, but officials say the move shouldn't affect air travel as the summer travel season gets underway.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is primarily responsible for securing the southern border and processing the record numbers of migrants crossing it, has already received help from thousands of National Guardsmen and active-duty military troops. Now, the Trump administration is seeking volunteers from across the federal government to help with the ever-growing number of migrants seeking asylum in the United States.

In a statement, TSA said it's in the "process of soliciting volunteers to support this effort while minimizing operational impact."

According a senior TSA official, the agency is reviewing its 60,000 employees to see which would be most helpful along the border, but officials do not plan to include people who conduct security screenings at U.S. airports. Still, emails obtained by CNN, which first reported the possible deployment, indicate that officials acknowledge there is "some risk" that pulling so many people would diminish their resources and could hurt aviation security.

Emails obtained by CNN indicated that some of the volunteers could include air marshals and others from the agency's "Security Ops" unit.

Tori Barnes of the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group charged with boosting travel to and within the U.S., acknowledged the Trump administration's concerns about securing the southern border. But she said the problem would be best addressed by increasing funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and making other systemic changes, not by sacrificing security at the nation's airports.

"Further stretching CBP and TSA resources — especially headed into the busiest time of year at our nation’s airports and points of entry — clearly could result in turmoil for business and leisure travel that supports millions of livelihoods all across the country," Barnes said.

It's unclear when the deployment would begin. But acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan has said the request is part of a government-wide push to move more employees to the border to deal with a "humanitarian and security crisis."

For example, Customs and Border Protection has redeployed more than 540 of its own officers from ports in San Diego, El Paso and Laredo, Texas, to sections of the border seeing spikes in migrant crossings. That has already led to longer wait times for pedestrians, passenger vehicles and trailers legally crossing the border through those ports of entry.

 

[Carriemel]

I was curious how much this might slow up some of the airports with the loss of TSA agents going to the border.

250 out of 6000 TSA agents doesn't sound like that much, but who knows if they won't take more.

It might slow the process of checking in at some of the busier airports.

Just to edit you a bit - there are almost 60,000 TSA employees, not 6,000...

 

[RaySharpton]

Just to edit you a bit - there are almost 60,000 TSA employees, not 6,000...

Hi, Carriemel. Thank you.

 

[Woodview]

If a TSA works on a 24 hour shift system 7 days a week & a 40 hour week per agent

then that team needs 4 agents .

( 1 on a 12 hour day shift & 1 on a 12 hour night shift & 2 agents on rest days )

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Wow, hope security at the airports is still at the correct level.

\

And that would be "theatre" level where we think the show means we have security?

Well, first of all, IF they actually volunteered (the quoted passage doesn't generate much confidence) that doesn't mean they are going. I'm sure their local supervisors won't let so many go that they compromise security. Nor will they let them mess up other agent's vacations...or anything else.

We'd have to take a long look at the source of that information to judge its credibility, but I'm confident TSA management knows what their main job is.

Harassment of passengers?? After all everyone knows that if you scream at a terrorist they will run away and that terrorists ONLY try to do things they have already done (kind of like Disney they just do remakes they have no new ideas anymore)




The scary part is these people barely seemed trained on how to do ONE thing and someone wants to increase their duties LOL!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

TSA agents from airports may be sent to the border.

But will they make people take their shoes off and remove the candy from their bags?

/rolleyes

 

[Carriemel]

Coming from the inside...here's what I know about the TSA officers going to the border.

Currently, if an officer does go to the border they can do a very limited scope of activities. These include transport of people to health exams (but only if the officer also holds a CDL), serving food, and cleaning rooms/bathrooms/the kitchen.

There won't be any airport-style security provided by the officers who do volunteer to go.



Full disclosure, I work for TSA