Originally Posted by
essxjay
You made no indication in Milepost #1 of doing either a cursory or exhaustive search of the TSA website before starting the thread, which is why I gave you the link.
Perhaps I was too subtle in my explication to you. Let me try again.
I was suggesting the following possibilities:
- That your questions presuppose answers to them exist;
- That such answers are not common knowledge or are unavailable on the Web, which is to say available only by emailing or calling or writing.
The words are simple, but the nature of the information you're seeking is not.
A comprehensive enumeration of the agency's rules and procedures that screeners must follow when checking ID -- for anyone -- is not a matter of public record. It's considered SSI (Sensitive Security Information, a designation in the United States Code), and its discovery is extremely difficult to achieve at this time.
Acknowledged. Let's take as a given, then, your observations about how foreign-borns are screened relative to others.
If there's something about their screening experience that deviates from standard procedure, how would you or any other observer know it? The scope of _standard_ procedure is not definitively outlined and published now, and so we know even less about what constitutes non-standard, one-off or discretionary actions.
We'll do our best to help you, general members and TSA lurkers alike. Question for clarification purposes, please: When you wrote earlier, "I would like someone in the know or from that agency[...]," who do you have in mind that qualifies as not TSA but is in the know?
Because many of the very FFs, former road warriors, lifelong aviation geeks and policy wonks posting here do consider themselves to be in the know. Are they not in your opinion, and how so?
If you really feel their experience to be of questionable veracity, then I'm mildly curious why you posted here? There are a number of other IBBs specifically aimed at TSA screeners, a couple of which have been mentioned here over the years. I don't have those contacts at my fingertips but if you're interested please PM me, or perhaps someone else will post them here.
You are not doing your best to answers, you are posting blatherskite...
I love people that like to write and hear themselves talk. It is nice. One of my second master's degree associates was like that, sadly he never really made a point either, much like your post. It is obvious you do not know the answer, thank you for your time though.
However from my years of reading this site I have noted that there are those in airport administration as well as TSA and other LEO agencies here. The info I seek is not SSI. In fact having participated in upper-level security conferences with TSA SES members in the past I have seen SSI info and the regs on it ---as I was seeing TSA and government data at at TS-SCI level, much like my US government clearance allows me. So I am aware of how they classify their information, and I have seen the US code via lexus-nexus and other engines available, releated to US immigration law. Neither of which I was asking about. In fact some airports with non-TSA ID checkers post their own ID information on signage, noting how they use passports re:ID checks. That is not what I am referring too. I am asking about TSA policy. We all know the TSA posts incomplete or contrary information online. I have read their pages in Spanish, German and Italian and seen different information than in English.
So, so far I have seen too useless replies and should expect another book of useless info.... Plenty of threads on this forum get these responses of uselessness. I should have expected it. But I digress.
And who said I had not posted on other sites? Where did that comment come from? I do not seek rumour and conjecture just policy if those in the know can answer me. That is not a concept to difficult to undertand, IMO.
Again, If one of the TSA members here could PM or post here it would be appreciated. Thank you.
Well, I like to rip on the TSA when they deserve it, which is quite often, and I will not be bound by your dictates of who can and cannot post to "your" thread. The power of Flyer Talk comes from the multiple perspectives of those who post here. How you could deem that the perspective of TSA "officers" who do or are told what to do (the "S"OP at a single airport) exceeds the value of those who post from multiple experiences over mutliple dragnets at multiple airports is beyond me. You seem to be forgetting there are probably many other than us, reading these threads to learn... and since duplicate, or overlapping posts are not appreciated, why would you think you could deny someone who hasn't yet framed or posed the question, the wisdom of multiple answers.
NY-FLA I realise that people have their perspectives. And I have been to more airports, on seven continents, than many if not most of the people here. But that, much like what you mention, is not really relevant here and is a bit off topic. I am asking about TSA policy as it relates to American airports where they do take the ID checking policy under their umbrella (I could post two dozen examples but choose not too, just one recent one). There should not be multiple answers just a policy. Policy can have varying degrees of immplementation.
Do not take these comments as off colour.
As for the rest of your post:
I too can understad some of your frustration, especially due to the nature of one of my jobs relating to directing non-citizen travel. And much like you, I hold 4 passports: 1 US blue tourist, 1 US brown Official, 1 Italian EU tourist, and 1 Belize economic citizen, and other IDs and papers allowing non Passport travel. Heck, I have had officers at MCO confer on Official US passport procedures, related to met using it at the security point, thus another reasons I would like to know the policy for passports/visa and ID checks.
Yes, many here have had overzealous TSA experiances, heck I have had questions from them since I have a drivers license from one US state with an address from another on it---perfectly legal---but confusing to some ID checkers. NY-FLA I agree the TSA has no immigration mandate but that doesn't mean there is a policy in place with regards to checking during initial entrance to the checkpoints.
Such is life. Non mi piace ma....
Ciao,
FH