Security Experts Are 'Losing Their Minds' Over an FAA Proposal [View all]
President Donald Trumps golden age of America has no need for migrant labor. Picking crops? There are 34 million able-bodied American adults on Medicaid who can do that grueling work. Building homes? Native-born Americans will handle those jobs. Meat processing? The country has no use for foreign laborers willing to put in the hours for slave wages.
When it comes to one of the countrys most sensitive and technically demanding government jobs, however, the Trump administration is quietly humming a different tune. I obtained documents showing that the Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the possibility of hiring foreigners as air traffic controllers. The FAA is facing significant air traffic controller staffing shortages, and to address this issue, is exploring the idea of recruiting experienced international talent, states a three-page executive summary of the initiative, which has not been previously reported.
However, this approach must be carefully managed to ensure that the FAAs high standards for safety and procedures are upheld, the summary adds, acknowledging a need to balance the critical areas of safety, training, national security, and immigration law to create a sustainable and effective workforce strategy for the FAA.
A U.S. official involved in the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a matter that had not been made public, told me that the FAAs security experts are losing their minds over the prospect of turning foreign nationals into key nodes of the United States aerospace system. Of particular concern is the access they could gain to radars and communications networks as well as sensitive information about military flight paths, restricted airspace, and air-defense zones.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-foreign-air-traffic-controllers-211100346.html