Why Are Key Components of Passports Outsourced To Country In Turmoil (Thailand)?

[Are_grits_groceries]

Security of U.S. Passports Called Into Question

The U.S. government agency that prints passports has for years failed to resolve persistent concerns about the security risks involved in outsourcing production to foreign factories, a joint investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity has found.
<snip>
Despite repeated assurances they would move production to the U.S., a key government contractor has continued to assemble an electronic component of the nation's new, more sophisticated passport in Thailand.

The factory is near the same Bangkok suburb where a notorious terrorist extremist was captured in 2003. There have been bursts of violence in the industrial city, Ayutthaya, as recently as last month.
<snip>
Tapella said government contractors were in the process of moving work on the passport out of Thailand and into a newer facility in Minnesota. "I believe the Government Printing Office along with the Department of State, are doing everything necessary to maintain and secure the passport supply chain," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/security-us-passports-called-question/story?id=10909092

[hobbit709]

1. WTF!

We outsourced HS too.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. WTF indeed!

unbelievable - get the thing home. Who's bright idea was this?