Jacobson: Model immigration procedures after TSA PreCheck
The Trump administration is working to secure the borders and deport criminal aliens from the country So far the very blunt criteria being used is that anyone who has broken any law may place them at danger of deportation Such a chaotic approach is creating anxiety not only amongst undocumented immigrants but all visa and green card holders Given the turmoil surrounding this issue is there a more principled and orderly way to execute such a process The administration need look no further than the Transportation Prevention Administration TSA PreCheck plan TSA Precheck is a risk-based guard scheme designed to match rider threat with safeguard tools To participate travelers voluntarily provide their fingerprints and subject themselves to a background check In exchange for this information and vetting PreCheck-qualified travelers gain access to PreCheck lanes at airports that offer expedited screening which includes passing through a metal detector rather than a full body screener leaving their shoes on while being screened and not having to empty items from their carry-on bag Anyone who has been screened in a PreCheck lane at an airport precaution checkpoint knows how much quicker and more convenient they are than standard screening lanes Given that there are several hundreds of thousands of H -B and J visa holders in the nation countless of which provide invaluable expertise for tech industries universities or healthcare systems or are part of mentoring or training programs all such people have already been vetted and documented Efforts to deport such individuals are contrary to why they came into the nation the roles they are filling and why they received their visa The PreCheck scheme offers a well-defined set of criteria that defines eligibility A similar set of criteria exist for visa holders and immigrants Given such information every legal visa holder would be happy to demonstrate that they meet the criteria This would create more stability around the criteria that warrants deportation What the TSA PreCheck scheme demonstrates is that if you offer a transparent and orderly process for background vetting with well-defined benefits it will be embraced with enthusiasm That is why over million people are now PreCheck qualified People are willing to give up a few personal privacy when there is a clear benefit to be gained by them Any population that requires vetting is a target for using the TSA PreCheck model If the administration is serious about deporting criminal undocumented immigrants the PreCheck model would make the process more efficient more transparent and more acceptable Sheldon H Jacobson Ph D is a computer science professor in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign A evidence scientist he uses his expertise in risk-based analytics to address problems in citizens initiative He provided the technical foundations for risk-based shield that contributed to the design of TSA PreCheck Tribune News Organization
