Port employees enroll in federal ID program

PROVIDENCE – About 3,000 longshoremen, truckers and others who work at the Port of Providence were slated to be enrolled in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Worker Identification Credential program, which started Nov. 15.
“TWIC will be a crucial part of our multi-layered risk-based approach to maritime security,” Coast Guard Capt. Roy Nash, captain of the Port of Providence, said in a statement.
The Transportation Security Administration program aims to ensure that any worker with unescorted access to secure areas of U.S. port facilities or vessels has been subjected to a thorough background check and poses no threat to security. Nationwide, more than 1 million such workers are expected to apply for TWIC certification this year and next.
Providence will be the eighth port to begin enrollment in the program, which ultimately aims to establish fixed enrollment centers at 147 ports nationwide and deploy mobile enrollment centers to other sites as needed.