Illegal Aliens - Operation Tarmac

Post–September 11 investigations identified "thousands of overstays and other illegal immigrant workers who (despite background checks) had obtained critical infrastructure jobs and security badges with access to, for example, airport tarmacs and U.S. military bases" (Overstay Tracking: A Key Component of Homeland Security and A Layered Defense, U.S. Government Accountability Office report to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, GAO-04-82, May 2004). The GAO report also claimed that of the six hijackers who actually flew the planes on September 11 or were apparent leaders, two were overstays and one had violated a student visa by not attending school. The DHS initiated an ongoing multiagency effort, known as Operation Tarmac, to identify unauthorized foreign nationals working in places vulnerable to terrorism, such as security areas of airports.

The GAO further reported in Overstay Tracking that as of April 2004, 195 airports had been investigated and

FIGURE 5.4
Form I-94
SOURCE: "Appendix I: Copy of Form I-94," in Overstay Tracking: A Key Component of Homeland Security and a Layered Defense, Report to the Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives by U.S. General Accounting Office, May 2004, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0482.pdf (accessed April 6, 2005)

TABLE 5.1
Operation Tarmac: overstays arrested
SOURCE: "Table 2. Operation Tarmac Data for Selected Airports: Number of Overstays Arrested by Airport," in Overstay Tracking: A Key Component of Homeland Security and a Layered Defense, Report to the Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives by U.S. General Accounting Office, May 2004, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0482.pdf(accessed April 6, 2005)

5,877 businesses had been audited. Checking I-9 employment eligibility forms and badging office records of some 385,000 workers located 4,918 unauthorized workers. Table 5.1 provides a profile of Operation Tarmac results in 25 airports. Of 607 unauthorized workers arrested, 30% were overstays. The greatest number of unauthorized workers arrested (103) were identified at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. A total of ten unauthorized workers arrested were from countries identified as "of special interest" under the NSEERS program and five of these were overstays. According to the GAO report, the unauthorized workers with access to secured areas were employed by airports, airlines, and support service companies in jobs such as aircraft maintenance technicians, airline cabin service attendants, airplane fuelers, baggage handlers, and predeparture screeners. One unauthorized worker was employed in the airport badging office. In most cases these individuals had misused Social Security numbers and identity documents to obtain airport jobs and security badges.

Operation Tarmac also investigates employees working at critical infrastructure sites (such as nuclear power plants, sensitive national landmarks, military installations, or the Alaska pipeline) and special events (such as the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and the annual Super Bowl game). Seventy-nine unauthorized workers were arrested at the 2003 Super Bowl in San Diego, according to the GAO report. Eight were overstayers and twelve others were from countries that became part of the NSEERS "special registration" requirements.