US Ports, the UAE and US visas

By Bill West

There may be a number of reasons to not allow Dubai Ports World (DPW) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take control of operations in several major US ports. Various Congressional representatives and terrorism and security experts have enumerated those reasons. The Administration, of course, is attempting to reassure us that all is fine with this deal; that our Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have "reviewed" the matter and have come away convinced there are no security threat concerns and we should trust the Government's decision to allow DPW to assume control of port operations. The Government explains that port security will, after all, remain as it is...under control of local, state and Federal law enforcement officials, to include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Basically, the White House has said, "Trust us, we're from the Government, we know more than you and we're here to protect you." OK.

This debate will likely heat up as both Democrats and Republicans at all levels of government seem to be lining up against the White House stance. It may be true that DPW will not be directly involved in port security, but will "only" be managing "port operations." Has anyone bothered to really explain what "port operations" really means? Quite literally that can cover the full gamut of almost everything that happens in a port. This deals with ship arrival, loading, unloading and departure to the handling of ground transportation in and out of the port area to managing things as mundane as who provides the vending machines for the employee lounges. DPW might not provide armed security officers to patrol the ports, but their management of "port operations" will certainly have a bearing on port security.

This means the "who" that is involved with DPW in this endeavor is critically important. Who will be the DPW employees actually setting foot on US soil to run those port operations? What kind of US security screening will those people receive? Will DPW hire native-born US citizens as senior managers for its US operations or will it import UAE or other Middle-East natives into such positions? What about lower level positions, the middle management and rank and file DPW workers? Who will they be? What is the hiring plan? If foreign nationals, aliens, are to be brought into the United States, what process will be employed for that purpose? These, perhaps, are all very legitimate issues the Congressional and other critics of this program may want to have resolved...if there is time for such resolution.

And since the topic of importation of aliens relative to this DPW port operation deal has now surfaced, please allow me to explain how that might easily happen. There is something called the "L-1" Intracompany Transferee nonimmigrant visa. It allows foreign companies with US-based operations...as DPW would be...to temporarily transfer managers or "skilled workers with specialized knowledge" into the United States to work at the US branch of the parent company. The L-1 aliens can stay, with extensions, for up to seven years in certain cases.

The visa application process for L-1 status does provide for the usual layered background check system to kick-in. However, as we have seen in many previous cases, for terrorist alien suspects who are not yet on the radar screens of any Intelligence or law enforcement agencies or who utilize a solid false identity, slipping past those watch lists can and will happen. The L-1 visa process in connection with what would be a very large DPW port management operation could provide yet another avenue of entry into the US, perhaps without the culpable participation of DPW personnel, of terrorist aliens. Minimally, this should be another issue subject to very close and continuous review, particularly if the DPW deal goes forward. Hopefully, our Government knows more than we do and is here to protect us.

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