What If You're Turned Down for your TWIC

The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) is rolling out its Transportation Worker Identification Credential (or TWIC) program at ports throughout the United States. This program was implemented with the intent of increasing security at the ports. This is presumably accomplished through a background check designed to weed out potential security threats.

Those who need a TWIC include merchant mariners, port facility employees, longshoremen, truck drivers, and others who need unescorted access to a MTSA regulated maritime facility or vessel. The program is being rolled out piecemeal, and should be completed by September 2008. In California, TWIC was deployed at the Port of Oakland in November 2007 and Los Angeles/Long Beach in December 2007. The program is set to roll out in San Diego and Richmond, California in the first quarter of 2008, in Port Hueneme, San Francisco, and Sacramento in the second quarter of 2008, and in Eureka and Stockton in the third quarter of 2008.

You don't have to be a U.S. citizen to apply for a TWIC. Once you file the application, TSA reviews the application and performs a background check including review of your criminal record, your immigration status, and terrorist watch list. They then issue an Initial Determination of Threat Assessment (IDTA) where your application is either approved or denied. If it is approved, your credential will be mailed to you. If it is denied, then you can either apply for a waiver of the assessment, or appeal the ruling.

If you think the IDTA was incorrect, you can appeal it. You have 60 days from the date of the IDTA to request an appeal. You can also request that TSA provide you with the non-classified materials that they based the IDTA on. If you do this, then you will have an additional 60 days from the date TSA provides you with the documents. This basically doubles the amount of time you have to request an appeal, since you can send the request for documentation up to 60 days after the date of the IDTA, and then send the request for an appeal within 60 days from TSA's response to your request for materials.

TSA then has another 60 days to notify you of their decision on the appeal.

If you think that you should be entitled to a TWIC because you no longer pose a security threat (e.g., because the reasons the TSA denied your application occurred more than 7 years ago) you can request a waiver. You can request a waiver for any disqualifying offense except these:

• Espionage
• Sedition
• Treason
• A federal crime of Terrorism, or comparable state law

If the TSA denies your waiver, you may seek review of the waiver denial by an Administrative Law Judge.

If you are denied for a TWIC, don't assume that it is the end of the road. This process is brand new, and mistakes get made.

You don't need an attorney to appeal or request a waiver, but you may not need to necessarily go down that path. You may be able to get something cleared up with a simple phone call. I have helped truck drivers who have been turned down for a TWIC by calling the TSA and explaining the situation. The most important thing to do is address the issue as soon as possible. If you do not request a waiver or appeal within 60 of the IDTA, then the IDTA becomes final, and you cannot get a TWIC card.

If you have been turned down for a TWIC and are not sure what to do next, call me at (510) 500-4013 or e-mail me.