"Report Calls Airport Areas Unsecure"

Wednesday, January 9, 2002

Report Calls Airport Areas Unsecure


WASHINGTON (AP) -- International passenger areas at major U.S. airports are
so poorly designed that passengers could easily sneak through or hide
contraband, a Justice Department report says.

The department's inspector general blamed inadequate oversight by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is supposed to make sure
airports that receive international passengers have secure inspection areas.

Such areas at 42 international airports across the country were poorly
designed and had numerous monitoring problems, said the report. Holding
rooms where potentially inadmissible foreigners were detained were too
small; 13 airports had no holding rooms at all.

``As a result, airports were vulnerable to illegal entry, escapes, injuries,
health hazards and the hiding or disposing of contraband or documents,''
said an executive summary of the report by Inspector General Glenn Fine.

The findings came amid heightened concerns about airport safety following
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Three of the nation's busiest international airports -- in New York, Los
Angeles and Miami -- need the most extensive work to improve monitoring of
passenger inspection areas, the report said.

The INS approves the design of passenger inspection areas, and the agency
had asked the inspector general to review such facilities at international
airports because immigration officials were concerned about the adequacy of
holding rooms.

The report concluded that the INS had not pushed airlines and airports to
meet 50-year-old safety requirements for inspection areas.

INS officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

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