TheTSA failed to identify at least 73 people employed in the airline industry flagged under terrorism-related activity codes.
According to a recent report by the TSA inspector general, employees of major airlines, airport vendors and other employers, were all cleared to access secure airport areas despite being watchlisted.
The reason for this, according to the TSA, is in part because the agency “is not authorized to receive all terrorism-related information under current interagency watchlisting policy.”
Rather than conducting criminal history and work authorization checks itself, the TSA generally delegated individual airports to do these tasks, though it had limited oversight, reported Politico.
"Additionally, thousands of records used to vet these workers had incomplete or inaccurate data," reported Politico.
The agency “risks credentialing and providing unescorted access to secure airport areas for workers with potential to harm the nation’s air transportation system,” it concludes.
https://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2015/OIG_15-98_Jun15.pdf
