Feds pull almost 600 security clearances at O'Hare CHICAGO (AP) =97 Twenty-five Chicago airport workers have been charged with= =20 criminal violations, and the security clearances of 553 others have been=20 canceled in a crackdown on airport workers using fake IDs, officials=20 announced Tuesday. The arrests and canceling of security clearances were=20 part of a nationwide sweep dubbed Operation Tarmac designed to shore up=20 airport security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and make sabotaging=20 planes more difficult for terrorists. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told= =20 a news conference the action was designed to boost security at O'Hare=20 International and Midway Airports "by removing serious felons with unknown= =20 or questionable identities." "If we are serious about airport security ...= =20 we have to know that the people who are given access to secure areas are=20 trustworthy," he said. But Fitzgerald said the government has not found=20 members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network working at O'Hare=20 and Midway. Those arrested include ramp agents, truck drivers, members of=20 cleaning crews, a baggage handler, an airline cabin service attendant and a= =20 number of food service workers, most with Hispanic names. The Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights immediately=20 issued a statement saying the federal crackdown "only further criminalizes= =20 immigrants who work hard and pay taxes and are only trying to make a living= =20 and support themselves and their families." "It is time for the Bush=20 Administration to make good on its pre-Sept. 11 call for an earned=20 legalization of hardworking, undocumented immigrants and stop treating food= =20 service workers, gate agents, bus boys and nannies as if they were=20 potential terrorists," the organization said. Fitzgerald took sharp issue=20 with any suggestion that the government might be treating illegal=20 immigrants or anyone else in unfair fashion. "We're not picking on anyone,"= =20 Fitzgerald said. "If you're going to work in an airport where we have to be= =20 secure, we're not going to stop and wand and search people, including you=20 and I and everyone else, and let other people walk through who have prior=20 convictions." "Some people have convictions for drug offenses and they want= =20 to work in a secure area in an airport," he said. "We can't tolerate that."= =20 Six of those arrested were charged with making false statements about=20 previous criminal records =97 four for drug offenses, one for burglary and= =20 another for robbery, federal officials said. Sixteen were charged with=20 using bogus Social Security numbers and three with re-entering the country= =20 after they had been deported. Fitzgerald said the 553 whose clearances were lifted had raised the=20 suspicions of federal officials but were still under investigation. Such=20 employees need security badges to gain unescorted access to tarmacs,=20 airplanes and other security-sensitive spots where their jobs would=20 normally take them. Fitzgerald said that when they arrive at work they will= =20 find their badges no longer are valid. Asked if the number of individuals=20 charged in Chicago appeared low in comparison to those charged in other=20 cities, Fitzgerald said that might be the case. But he said that after the= =20 553 other cases are thoroughly investigated, the number of those charged in= =20 Chicago could be higher. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************