Putting Foreign Traveler Convenience Ahead of U.S. Security

President Donald Trump defended following through on his campaign promise to implement “extreme vetting” on Monday.

Trump used Twitter to defend his Friday executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days, and banning refugee entries for 120 days.

Despite the fact that millions of Americas will be searched today as they fly, the anecdotes of a few travelers will be used to tarnish new security efforts.

The hue and cry about the general order was bad enough, with false claims repeatedly made on Saturday that Trump’s order was a “Muslim ban.”

But the focal point of the complaints soon became the people in transit. The media and Hollywood celebrities bemoaned the fact that travelers, even residents with green cards, were held at U.S. airports and detained for questioning.

Then Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader from New York, held a press conference, saying the order was “mean-spirited and un-American.”

Trump and Republicans can expect to hear those two words a lot, from Schumer and many others. Democrats and pundits are in an all-out frenzy to demonize the temporary policy. For now, they are using the inconvenience of some travelers coming to the United States from seven troubled states as a tool to weave their angry narrative — in the process, showing that they care more for the international traveler rather than the American one.

Trump showed he will fight back.

“Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning,” Trump tweeted in two parts on Monday. “Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage, protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!”

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly soon sent out guidance indicating travelers from the seven nations who hold green cards should be processed and allowed in. But even in that guidance, Kelly didn’t forbid vetting them upon arrival.

It is still the policy of the United States to examine its own citizens and residents when they fly from one U.S. city to another. The increasing number of air travelers is likely straining the Transportation Security Administration, which is tasked with screening passengers.

[lz_ndn video=31914399]

The number of air passengers increased 5 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Almost 900 million passengers flew on U.S. flights or on foreign carriers’ U.S. flights.

The TSA says for 2016, its screening numbers again grew by 6 percent.

In 2016, TSA officers screened more 738 million passengers, or more than 2 million per day, which is roughly 43 million more passengers than for the same time frame in 2015, according to the TSA blog.

But it doesn’t stop with people.

“In addition to screening more than 738 million passengers, TSA officers also screened 466 million checked bags and 24.2 million airport employees!” the blog reports.

The TSA says in 2016 there was an alarming increase in the number of firearms discovered at TSA checkpoints around the nation.

“In total, 3,391 guns were found in carry-on bags, which represents a 28 percent increase over last year’s firearm discoveries,” according to the TSA blog. “Eighty-three percent of the guns discovered were loaded — certainly an unnerving statistic, but thankfully the TSA remained vigilant and discovered these weapons before they were allowed anywhere near the inside of an airplane.”

The TSA blog reports the security teams also found gunpowder, grenades or grenade facsimiles, knives, and swords.

But in doing their jobs, do TSA officials go too far? That has been an ongoing debate since new airport security measures were taken after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the subsequent attempt by Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber,” to try to ignite explosives in his footwear on a flight to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001.

Today, Americans, even cancer patients and disabled veterans, are subject to humiliating searches.

In 2013, Todd Starnes of Fox News reported an active-duty Marine who lost both his legs to a roadside bomb was humiliated by TSA agents after he was forced to remove his prosthetic legs while his wheelchair was checked for explosives.

The incident occurred on March 13, 2013, as a Marine group was stopped by TSA agents at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The Marine, who was still on active duty, produced his military card, but it made no difference, Starnes reported.

The search was apparently a violation of TSA policy, as prostheses can be screened without their removal from bodies.

It was just one of many such intrusions, delays, and screenings at U.S. airports every day.

Trump’s temporary travel ban from the seven troubled nations is also not unprecedented.

In 2011, President Obama suspended visas held by Iraqi refugees for six months.

And in 2002, President George W. Bush implemented the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System program for men ages 16 and over, from 25 countries, including Syria and North Korea.

According to CNN, the program had three parts: registration upon entry, a process that included fingerprinting, photo-taking, and interrogation; regular check-ins with immigration officials; and records of exits to make sure visitors did not overstay their visas.

Violators were arrested, fined, and even deported, CNN noted. It all seems a distant memory now. What is different?

The president is new. And Trump promised “extreme vetting,” which offends the Democrats and the media.

In 2002, the media and Democrats didn’t have the gumption to challenge Bush on NSEERS, but the bitterness remains. CNN still calls it “the Bush-era Muslim registry,” despite North Korea’s presence in the policy.

And despite the fact that millions of Americas will be searched today as they fly, the anecdotes of a few travelers will be used to tarnish new security efforts.