I accept that the new job would be attractive to those leaving the border patrols, FBI, Police forces and Secret Service, I still feel it is not good for the country. Fighting crime or protecting borders would surely be more useful than confiscating nailfiles, even if the actual job is only one of paper pusher.
Airport security is set up now only to make the traveling public feel good; it has not done anything concrete about the problem of terrorism. Replacing low wage green card holders with low wage (even if supervised by high pay bosses) will not improve it. Only part of the weapons are caught, and a terrorist knows many ways to circumvent security. When a passenger is caught with a gun in his carry-on bag, so what? He/She was never going to use it.
The people who did the screening before the TSA came in were actually very good at what they did, since they had the experience needed to see what was a hazard and what was not. Since the govt has interfered, they have been forced to act differently and efficiency has dropped. I doubt that a US citizen with a High School diploma getting the wage paid to a screener at the cutting edge will have the patience to do the job as well, since he will be looking for advancement and will find staring at a computer screen all day very boring. I will be willing to bet that the success rate of the TSA will not be as high as the private screeners after a year or two, and the turnover will be just as high.
The only way to stop the really bad guys is to arm the crew, resist all attempts by criminals ( no more cooperation) and practice profiling. If terrorists know they face opposition they will go somewhere else to commit their mayhem, or they will have to use larger groups, which will be easier to identify.
Ten percent or so of all crew, including cabin crew, should be armed with tasers, pepper spray or such, and trained to use the weapon. Later, it might be possible to give them coded small calibre pistols (can only be fired by the person who has the ID). Giving the pilots a gun for last-ditch protection is a good idea too, much better than an F16 shoot-down.
Profiling works, as EL Al and some other airlines can attest. Having the screeners of TSA poke around in the backpack of a kid is just plain stupid and a complete waste of time. Putting a laptop computer through the xray separately proves what? How many laptop computers have gotten away from their owners and taken the airplane hostage? How many laptop computers even know how to use a nailfile?
Before 9/11 the security in the US, at least for domestic flights, was a little slack, compared to Europe and Asia, but now it is way over the top. Some common sense is desperately needed.
Meanwhile, I still am concerned that the nation's resources are being moved from proper law enforcement to a massive rort.
The end result of all this has so far only been the establishment of a massive new government department, and serious damage to the airline industry. Is this what the general public wants?