WASHINGTON,
April 27, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Bush
administration is reviving the McCarthy-era powers to check hundreds
of thousands of port workers for possible terrorist links, a British
influential industry newspaper reported on Thursday, April 27.
"In
the 1950s, these powers led to the sacking of port workers identified
as communist sympathizers," according to Lloyd's
List.
US
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has
recently said that port workers across the country would be checked
against terrorist watch lists.
The
new measure is part of a new US worker identification regime,
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), reportedly
designed to protect ports and terminals against terrorist threats.
It
will cover an estimated 400,000 employees who work in the most
sensitive areas of ports across the country.
The
McCarthy-era law was used to bar foreigners from visiting the US for
the slightest suspicions of their sayings or actions on claims of
fears of communism.
The
Bush administration has been under fire for months for holes in
security measures at ports.
The
issue gained momentum after the Dubai Ports World reached a
6.8-billion-dollar deal allowing it to operate six major American
ports.
The
state-owned company decided to transfer operation of the ports to a US
entity over fierce opposition from US lawmakers, responding to an
outcry by right-wing media outlets and talk radio shows.
Background
Checks
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Chertoff said the aim is to ensure "that those who enter our ports to do business come for legitimate reasons and not in order to do us harm.".
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The
new regime will include issuance of tamper-free identification cards
to roughly 750,000 workers, truckers and rail employees, with
unrestricted access to ports, reported Reuters.
The
US Coastguard will be charged with vetting dockers' names nationwide.
Immigration
authorities will also ensure workers are eligible to work in the
United States.
"What
this will do is it will elevate security at our ports themselves so
that we can be sure that those who enter our ports to do business come
for legitimate reasons and not in order to do us harm," Chertoff
had said.
The
background checks will not examine workers' criminal history, although
Chertoff left open that possibility for the future.
US
Congress ordered the Transportation Security Administration in 2002 to
issue biometric ID card to port workers who passed criminal background
checks.
The
cards were supposed to be issued to port workers beginning in August
2004.
Fears
But
the new ID system has sparked fears that many port workers would lose
their jobs over the measure.
"It
seems to us that the biggest security threat is coming from the
outside, and not from the workers who live and work in those
communities," said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the San
Francisco-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Marine
unions have warned that cargo operations could be affected and trade
delayed because of the tough legislation.
The
US Congress has been deadlocked over a controversial anti-immigration
bill to determine the fate of some 11 million undocumented immigrants
in the country.
The
bill, passed by the House of Representatives last year, would make it
a felony to be in the US without proper papers, and a federal crime to
aid illegal immigrants.
It
also allows the construction of a 700-mile (1,126-kilometer) wall
along much of the US-Mexico border.
The
bill has sparked massive protests across the country.
