BILL NUMBER: AJR 39	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alquist
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Chu and Salinas)
   (Coauthor:  Assembly Member Chan)

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2002

   Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39--Relative to airport security
workers.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 39, as introduced, Alquist.  Airport security workers.
   This measure would memorialize the President of the United States
and the Congress to suspend or eliminate the requirement that
security screening personnel be citizens and act to ensure that any
legal immigrant that has applied for citizenship be allowed to keep
his or her security screening job absent certain evidence.  The
measure would also memorialize the President of the United States and
Congress to remove waiting time penalties that apply to immigrant
security screeners who try to bring their families to the United
States if they apply for citizenship.
   Fiscal committee:  no.




   WHEREAS, The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (Public Law
107-71) established the Transportation Security Administration within
the Department of Transportation, to be administered by the Under
Secretary of Transportation for Security; and
   WHEREAS, Under the act, the Under Secretary is responsible for
day-to-day security screening operations for passenger air
transportation and intrastate air transportation, including the
screening of passenger baggage; and
   WHEREAS, Under the act, the Under Secretary is responsible for
developing standards for the hiring, training, testing, and retention
of security screening personnel; and
   WHEREAS, Under the act, the qualification standards for
individuals to be hired as security screening personnel must require
the individuals to be citizens of the United States; and
   WHEREAS, The Under Secretary assumed responsibility for airport
security on February 19, 2002, and all security screening personnel
that are not United States citizens will be terminated by November
19, 2002; and
   WHEREAS, A large percentage of security screening personnel at
several airports in California are not United States citizens; and
   WHEREAS, In the bay area alone, approximately 1,200 mostly
Filipino workers, will lose their jobs as a result of the requirement
that security screeners must be United States citizens, with no
demonstrable showing that this will improve safety or security; and
   WHEREAS, The vast majority of security screeners that are not
citizens of the United States, are legal immigrants from nations that
have long been friends or allies of the United States, their
countries having fought alongside our soldiers during wartime, and
have either applied for citizenship, or are prevented from applying
for citizenship, as a result of punitive immigration policies; and
   WHEREAS, Immigrant security screeners are not to blame for the
September 11, 2001, disaster and punitive actions against immigrants
unrelated to their being a security risk, creates and inflames ill
feelings for this country abroad; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California,
jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California memorializes
the President and the Congress of the United States to suspend or
eliminate the requirement that individuals to be hired as security
screening personnel must be citizens of the United States; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the President and the Congress should act to ensure
that any legal immigrant that has applied for citizenship should be
allowed to keep his or her security screening job, absent evidence
showing that they are a security or criminal risk; and be it further
   Resolved, That the President and the Congress should remove the
waiting time penalties that immigrants working as security screeners
suffer, in trying to bring their families to the United States, if
they apply for citizenship; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each
Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the
United States.