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

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Taking advantage of someone is taking advantage of someone. If you do not see that then maybe you need to reevaluate your morals.

I would have paid for it myself if need be and not cheated another person out of their time or money in hiring me under false pretexts.

a reply to: tetra50

Yeah, it is good to have.

I fly out of Newark and even at that airport there are usually very few people on the Pre-Chek line. I normally get through in about 5-10 minutes tops.

They are hoping to screw him out of his pension/retirement.

It's a more common practice these days.

They only want good Americans to vote or to work.

The Reagan administration introduced drug testing, because only good Americans should be able to work a good job. (safety)

In a nutshell to get a good job in America you must submit. A drug test, a physical, a credit check, a back ground check, and now apparently in some industries a dhs clearance check.

Is there a segment of society that benefits from these hurtles to employment? Why would government allow such hurtles to employment? Does it lead or help continue classism?

Why is progressives blamed when its mostly republican administrations that have allowed all this? Has every decision made in the USA in the last 30 years all been progressive? Is it conservative polices later to be deemed failures then re labeled progressive? Just like the zero tolerance policies from the Reagan years created a school to prison system, and finally we are starting to change this terrible policies in the nations largest school district.

Thank you all for your valued input. I understand that some 'high risk/security' type jobs need clearances but an oil field worker does not and should not. I've researched this and I really see no reason for it. I spoke with my uncles both in the oil field industry too, one is high up the food chain, the other is in the business, owning his own business and as of yet, they do not need these clearances and my uncle that owns his own oil company said he has not been notified of needing this for himself, company nor his employees. He is in the same area my father is in (both of my uncles are) and they said they find this very invasive.

My one uncle said it could be because my father is contracted out to many different oil rig sites and not just in one particular site, but he said even that is a stretch. In his words "nothing top secret or secure here". He did say that possibly my father could be traveling onto government property and areas without knowledge and they just want to know who is in the neighborhood, so to speak.

So, all in all my uncles and father do not feel it necessary for such deep background checks, they feel just another tightening of the reins on good old Americans for no reason.

Kind of scary.

Dear Quirky:

It's really likely that it's because he's on their property. Even in the parking lot, as I told you, of drop off and pick up places, where they're flying out to rigs on the water, people just giving rigworkers a ride can be hassled. You have to show your ID, often. They expect those workers, to have a twic card before they step on the helipad, much less the copter….

Then, if he's on any rig, much less several, that's all property the DHS is now is charge of security for, like the red tape or not, think they're really making things "safe and secure." Someone I know who works on rigs, has a joke he always says…."Safety, first." lol

originally posted by: quirkygirl
My father just called and said he was upset because the government is requiring him to fill out Department of Homeland Security forms and I-9 forms in order to continue his work in the oil field industry. He said if he didn't comply, he was going to be terminated.
...

He said his entire company's team of employees has also been required to complete these forms and clearances. Any idea as to why this would be happening to our oil field workers? He asked his company why this was and he was not given a reason.

He read me some of the questions DHS asks on the forms (pages of questions) and it seemed extremely invasive of his privacy.

DHS is the executive agent for state, local, tribal, and private sector clearances, namely those involving the protection of critical infrastructure and key resources (EO 13549). However, there are no DHS forms involved in the security clearance process. The only form required for a security clearance is the SF 86, which is an OPM form. DHS kind of does their own thing with investigations, and it's often wrong, but I don't think even they have the chutzpah to throw out the SF 86.

Assuming your father is filling out the SF 86, that would indicate he has been sponsored for a security clearance. For non-Federal employees/non-military, this is only done when they have a foreseeable need to access classified information. If he wants, he can refuse to fill out the SF 86, and the government won't care. It's not a crime or an offense or anything like that. It just means he can't work in any position that requires a clearance. His employer might not be happy, and he might not have a job the next day, but it won't attract any Federal attention.

If it's not an SF 86, it could be the TWIC mentioned earlier.

a reply to: quirkygirl

The I-9 is a required document to prove eligibility for employment (citizenchip, visa, etc, etc).

The DHS thing is a website they launched a few years ago to give employers a place to check SSN/identity. You are required to enter this information within 3 days of their start date. Failure to do so....I dunno. I suppose that if it happens often enough, you get a visit from a suit. We don't make that mistake, so I have no idea.

Its all about proving citizenship, or so they say. We started using it, instead of paying our background check people to look it up for us (at $8 a pop). We do I-9 audits every 3 months to validate each employee. If your fathers company isn't doing this kind of stuff, they aren't paying proper attention to their fiduciary responsibility to their owners/investors.

originally posted by: quirkygirl
Thank you all for your valued input. I understand that some 'high risk/security' type jobs need clearances but an oil field worker does not and should not. I've researched this and I really see no reason for it. I spoke with my uncles both in the oil field industry too, one is high up the food chain, the other is in the business, owning his own business and as of yet, they do not need these clearances and my uncle that owns his own oil company said he has not been notified of needing this for himself, company nor his employees. He is in the same area my father is in (both of my uncles are) and they said they find this very invasive.

This has nothing to do with a clearance. EVERYONE needs to do this.

Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States.