Why did my father have to have Homeland Security Clearance and I9 forms for oil field work?

a reply to: parad0x122

I don't know that he hadn't, it may be they just had them redo it when they did the DHS forms or maybe he never had to do it in the first place. He was most concerned with the invasive questions he had to answer. I did pose this question to my uncles as well, as they are also in this industry. I'll see if they had to jump through such hoops recently.

For my job I often need to get onto semi-secure facilities like refineries and petroleum storage sites.

I was eventually required to get a TWIC card (Transportation Workers Identification Card) which enabled me to walk around most of these sites unescorted. I initially did not need one but this was a later requirement instituted by Homeland Security. What your dad had to do was probably the same thing.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

The TWIC is also required for a captain's license and almost all maritime work.

The signs of the times....

Anyone who has worked legally in the United States should be familiar with an I-9 form. It has been around since 1986 with the immigration reform and control act. If you have a job where you weren't required to fill out an I-9, something isn't quite right.

As far as the rest, I think the other posters are probably correct; DHS hasn't been around all that long and it's entirely possible this is just a new requirement.

I-9s have been required since 1986 when it became illegal to hire illegals. I would guess your fathers company is just updating its paper work to avoid a lawsuit like this one Texas oil surveyer fined for illegal labor. Immigration is part of DHS thus DHS paper work.

I was shocked when I had to fill out a DHS citizenship paper when I switched contractors.

It is not just certain jobs, I am a sheetmetal worker. I believe it will/is required for all jobs now. When you fill out your tax information they will have you fill the form out also.

I have been an American my whole damn life, why do I keep needing to remind the all controlling government that I am a citizen?

This is what the wonderful illegal immigrants that so many root for are getting us.

I say it is BS. I want to see some documentation from DHS stating that they srill support us a full fledged citizens. We are being screwed.

nvm

a reply to: quirkygirl

Its BS. But they cant just ask certain people or they may cry. You know like some guy that just immigrated or someone that belongs to the local Mosque.

It would be so easy to pull a terrorists act on a platform of even land rig, in answer to some here that claim this is for nation security, that no one would have to go through the trouble of getting a job at one.

a reply to: liejunkie01

I was shocked when I had to fill out a DHS citizenship paper when I switched contractors.

It is not just certain jobs, I am a sheetmetal worker. I believe it will/is required for all jobs now. When you fill out your tax information they will have you fill the form out also.

Are you talking about the I-9 form? They're required to have you fill it out and provide proof of citizenship. It's been that way for at least ten years.

I have been an American my whole damn life, why do I keep needing to remind the all controlling government that I am a citizen?

Well, they're not mind readers. Just because you proved that you were who you claim to be at "Job A" doesn't mean that it's still you at "Job B" without proof. Look at the bright side -- at least they're not requiring that we all get RFID chips implanted to prove who we are.

Yet.

originally posted by: quirkygirl
a reply to: jrod

He's been with this company for years. All the employees had to do this. I don't see anything obvious about this, sorry. Why now, all of a sudden?

Like others have already stated, oil is actually a key part of the national infrastructure. With the War on Terror and DHS being DHS, expanding their scope to cover more aspects of infrastructure has been increasing over the years since its inception. I seem to recall a couple years ago that there was an investigation of whether or not some of our key infrastructure was vulnerable to acts of domestic or foreign terrorism. Haven't read through it yet though odds are it's painfully ambiguous but something apparently was passed in 2013 in regards to national infrastructure.

www.dhs.gov...

If you can get Security Clearance (SC) then take it. It practically guarantees that no illegal immigrant or foreign worker can take your job. In the UK, contracts with SC practically double the salary.

This started in the mining industry back in 2003.

Since mining requires explosives

It went from about $200 dollars a year to get the permits for explosives to over $10,000 and every person at the company had to be cleared by DHS.
Even the secretaries working in the company office?????????????

And this did nothing to keep explosives off the street as anyone with a mind and the internet could make there own.

On the surface of regulatory life, which we all inhabit, to some degree, dependent upon our jobs and where we live….
All of the oilfield patch, any property that has anything to do with oilfield and the companies engaged in drilling, including even the parking lots of industrial parks, where the rig workers are picked up and dropped off to board the helicopters that take them out to the rigs, if the rig is on the water, is now under the Dept. of Homeland Security.
He will have to have a TWIC card even to be on the property of anything related to drilling. Therefore, the I-9 and the TWIC card, which requires all those questions.

TWIC is Transportation Worker Identification Credential, and will cost around $130. TWIC is part of three designations under DHS's Universal Enrollment Services (UES). The other two are TSA, for airport security, and HME, which I haven't a clue what that is.

Several other people answered your question about why there's increased security and the DHS is now in charge of such things. Pain in the ass, but it pays well, so……I wouldn't complain and fill out the paperwork. He'll probably have to have a drug test and a physical, and provide quite a few documents. But the drug test and physical have been standard in the oil industry for all companies for quite some time. A lot of their certifications necessary to get on a rig require that, anyway.

a reply to: tetra50

I did a package deal for my TWIC and TSA Pre-Chek for just under $200.

The latter is great since I fly frequently and I no longer have to remove my shoes, lap top, phone, toiletries, etc, and you get a separate lane to the screening area.

a reply to: quirkygirl

If you are talking about the twic card, everyone has to have one if they are in a sensitive area. Even the security guards.

Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

If you go to a security company like g4s and get hired, they pay for yours. A lot of people go, get hired, get their twic and then quit. They are good for like 6 or 7 years I think? Can't remember.

So you can get one for free if you're clever.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

My company covers all my expenses, I do not have to play games to get what I need to do my job.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

My company covers all my expenses, I do not have to play games to get what I need to do my job.

Dear, Constantly Offended of the order of the High and Mighty,

You just said you did a package deal implying you paid for it.
It's not really playing a game. Most stayed on and worked the job for a while, but had a twic that was good for years after they quit.

Others were broke and needed a twic for a job they were trying to get so applied to a company (g4s i believe) that pays for the twic (same as you just alleged your job did), but then they left after getting the twic for the job they originally needed the twic for.

You may disagree, but i'd call that clever in tough times. People probably do the same where you work if they pay for everything (even thought you originally implied you paid the 200).

Those are the kind of street smarts that will get you through a repression/depression.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Wow, didn't even know you could do such a thing. And getting the TSA cert. so you get fast-tracked and no search is absolutely invaluable. Cheap, too. I got my info from someone who does rig work. I'll tell him about that. He's always trying to get companies to buy him business class tickets, so he can get some of those perks, cause he's too old to go through all that AND an eighteen hr. flight. He won't get the perks on the plane, but at least, he can avoid the constant searching, stripping, etc. Cheap for both, too. I'll tell him. Thanks so much for the info.
tet

Actually, there is no real reason why a normal oil worker would need a security clearence. The signing of disclosure documents, sure, but I do not know why a security clearence would be needed unless your father was higher up on the chain at his company. In this case, as others have said, DHS is likely doing it for security to communicate threats back and forth.

My questiosn are:

1: Where does your father work? We have recieved threats to our oil fields at home, Saudi Arabian oil fields recieve threats on a daily basis, and Gas and Oil Platforms (GOPLATS) in the Arabian Gulf are constantly monitored, and have incusrsions by the Iranians frequently. There is actually a a military facility on one of these caled Ocean-6 that watches them doing this.

2: What forms did he have to sign? A security clearence investigation follows a certain process, the first of which is filling out an SF-86 which is not as obtrusive as it is extensive. Most of the information you put on there you would on any other standard government form for taxes, work, mail, etc. After that, there would be a FBI background check and investigation, interviews with friends, family, and co-workers, and finally a personal interview last (and repeat if need be).