Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that all Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWICs) that expired on or after March 1, 2020, would have their expiration dates extended by 180 days. This exemption took effect on April 10, 2020, and will remain in effect through July 31, 2020.
The Federal Register notice said that "there are 2,294,797 active TWICs in circulation today, and TSA records indicate that 234,536, or approximately 10%, will expire in the next six months."
Social distancing practices in response to the coronavirus crisis make gathering at TWIC enrollment centers unwise or prohibited. Approximately one-third of TSA’s TWIC enrollment centers have been forced to close because they are co-located with commercial or government offices that are closed as a result of Covid–19. For those that are operating, the process of collecting fingerprints, which is required for a TWIC, and completing the enrollment process may introduce risk to enrollment center staff or TWIC applicants, the notice said.
TSA said there is little to no risk to transportation security associated with this exemption for the following reasons:
1. The extension of expiration dates applies only to individuals who have already successfully completed a comprehensive security threat assessment (STA);
2. The extension of expiration dates is applicable to a relatively small percentage of TWIC holders and is for a set, limited duration subject to possible modification by TSA before the end of the effective period to ensure consistency with the duration and scope of the Covid-19 crisis;
3. TSA will continue to recurrently vet these TWIC holders against federal terrorism and national security related watch lists, and the DHS Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) IDENT system (a DHS-wide system for storage and processing of biometric and biographic information for national security) for security threat, criminal history, and immigration status checks during the extension period; and
4. TSA retains its full authority to suspend or immediately revoke an individual’s TWIC if the agency determines the holder is no longer eligible.
