The TSA needs to get their shit together

[Droopy]

Do you know what the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is? It is the branch of the Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for security at the airports. The TSA also oversees the administration of the hazmat endorsement for commercial driver's licenses (CDLs). If you operate a commercial vehicle and want to be able to haul hazardous materials, you have to submit to a back ground check and finger printing by the TSA as well as take the written test at the BMV.

Sounds like a good thing to do, right? We're keeping them terrorists from driving a load of explosives into a building. Well, I've got a problem with the TSA and they've got a problem with me. They check for a criminal history and they have a list of disqualifying offenses. They also check your citizenship status. This is where the problem comes in.

When I applied to have my hazmat endorsement renewed I did it over the phone. They asked me where I was born and I told them Landstuhl, Germany and that I was born on a US military base and that my father was in the US Army at the time and stationed there. No problem, right? Wrong. When I went to be fingerprinted I had to bring to pieces of identification that showed that I was a US citizen. I brought my driver's license and my birth certificate which the TSA said were both valid documents to show my citizenship. No problem, right? Wrong. Friday morning I got a notice from the the TSA saying that my request for hazmat re-certification had been declined due to me having no immigration documentation from when I moved from Germany to the United Sates. Basically, they are saying that I'm an illegal alien. Here is the exact passage from the letter explaining why I have been disqualified:

"You do not meet the requirements described in Title 49, C.F.R, 1572.05. On your application, you indicated you were born in Germany, however, TSA has been unable to verify your immigration from the information you provided."

Hello? You motherfuckers have two documents showing that I'm a legal citizen of the United States!

I have to have that hazmat endorsement or I cannot work at my current job. My license expires on 10/4/08 along with my hazmat endorsement. The TSA provided me with the means to appeal their decision, but I've got no idea how long that is going to take and I have to do it all through the mail. They will not respond to phone calls or e-mails on the matter. Only God knows how long this is going to take. I just hope that my employer understands if I run past 10/4 and lets me take a leave of absence until the matter is resolved.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Oh FFS - if you were born in a US Military Hospital that IS the USA.

By the way, do you have a form titled something like "Report of Birth of US Citizen Abroad"? I think it's a State Department form. You shouldn't need one since you were BORN ON US SOIL, but still...

[Droopy]

3. Yes, I have that

I'm sending notarized copies of my driver's license, my social security card, my birth certificate, and two forms like the one you described. Basically, everything a thief needs to steal my indentity if one intercepts my mail on the way to the TSA. :)

[GOPisEvil]

4. You know, I was adopted abroad by US Citizens.

I had to get naturalized (although nowadays I would have gotten automatic citizenship). It would be easier for me to prove my citizenship that for you. I can just show my naturalization certificate and passport. Criminy.

[DFW]

5. My daughters both have the "birth of a US citizen abroad" document

This IS the official US birth certificate. I can't (well, maybe I can)
believe the TSA dummies didn't know that.

I took their German birth certificates along with myself and my passport
to the US embassy, and walked out of there in less than 90 minutes with
their US birth certificates, US passports and social security numbers.

Pre-Bush era, obviously.

[Crazy Dave]

2. TSA doesn't hire the brightest people and bright people never apply

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. What? A government organization set up by republicans working opposite it's intent,

and doing so inefficiently?

I don't believe it.

I'll never believe it.

[Droopy]

7. kick

Because I have the power!

[cwydro]

8. TSA stands for

Thousands Standing Around.

I travel a bunch and cannot stand them.

Check this out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0

Warning: profanity and adult situations

[grasswire]

9. call your local congressman's office

Get him/her to help.

[mentalsolstice]

10. Lucky you, maybe you'll get deported back to Germany

at U.S. expense. Seems like a win-win to me.

I'm kidding, I feel your pain, U.S. bureaucracy is FUBAR.

[KG]

11. lesson here: never give TSA TMI