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he Bush administration will conduct background checks on an estimated 400,000 port workers to ensure they do not pose a terrorist threat, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
The names of employees who work in the most sensitive areas of ports will be matched against government terror watch lists and immigration databases, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.
DHS will also issue tamper-resistant identification cards to about 750,000 workers, including truckers and rail employees, with access to ports, AP said.
Stephanie Williams, vice president of the California Trucking Association, said she supported background checks if they are quick and do not interfere with the nearly 12,000 truckers who work at the state’s ports, AP reported Wednesday.
Williams and Steve Stallone, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said the terrorism watch lists could have flaws and sweep up legitimate workers without giving them adequate avenues of appeal, AP said.
The added scrutiny will not immediately include a criminal background check for workers, although Chertoff said that could happen in the future, AP reported.
The Transportation Security Administration, part of DHS, will conduct the background checks, he said.
