What’s Your Terror Score?
Apparently, Homeland Security has been assigning “terror scores” to citizens and foreigns when crossing the US border over the past four years.
The terror scores are computer generated calculations of the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals. The scores are then put on file for the next fourty years, and citizens are not allowed to check or challenge their scores.
Homeland Security has said that they “would be critically impaired without access to this data.” However, civil liberties lawyer David Sobel has called the program “probably the most invasive system the government has yet deployed.”
The data-mining program has been used for travel watch lists and caused passengers to be temporarily restricted from flying. However, it has yet to be put to any of the tests for accuracy and privacy protection requested two years ago by Congress.
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My husband and I recently came back from visiting relatives abroad, and I tell you, the system is as if you were coming through Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. My husband, who is a permanent legal resident, had his passport put in a green envelope at the counter (my daughter’s and mine weren’t and we’re both US born citizens). We knew that there was going to be some questioning but please, can they be just a tad bit more efficient ? My husband was one of the first ones in line at the “questioning” area along with the rest of the flight. However, he was the last one called up! The officers were juggling the passport envelopes around from one counter to another to cause more delays, and a guy named John Kennedy was called up as soon as he got there (racial profiling?). Our flight had landed around 10:30pm and we got out of the airport 2 and 1/2 hours later. I understand of security and its implementation, but don’t agonize and instigate hostile behavior from passengers who are coming from a 20 hour long flight ! There was no order there. There was no one to complain to. According to one “El Al” airport attendent, “those guys do whatever they want.”
Someone needs to be held responsible for this behavior.
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