The U.S. House has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would restrict access to visa waivers for some foreign travelers.
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Some 60 percent of all worldwide travellers who visited the United States a year ago entered via the visa waiver program. Participating countries are supposed to provide the US intelligence community with critical information needed to ensure those traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are not a threat.
Under the plans for improvement that achieved bipartisan support, there is a need to expand the criteria, which would determine if a country should be removed from the Visa Waiver Program. “We know thousands of radicalized people with Western passports have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight with terrorists groups like ISIS, and the House is taking decisive action to close security gaps these foreign fighters could exploit”.
The Syrian refugee bill, which the administration said was unnecessary because the small number of Syrian refugees are already extensively screened, has not gone anywhere in the Senate and looks unlikely to advance. The measure, which passed the House 407-19 and is supported by President Obama, will now require visas for anyone who has traveled to Iraq or Syria in the past five years.
The bill backed by the White House and proposed by Republicans would likewise require participating nations to share counterterrorism advice together with the U.s.
The U.S. admits about 20 million people a year under the program, which allows them to stay for up to 90 days. “This includes several of the Paris attackers, who could’ve traveled to the United States without a visa”.
With Congress rushing to finish its work for the year, leaders are considering adding Miller’s bill to a must-pass year-end spending bill now being completed.
They will also be required to issue e-passports with biometric information – a caveat which the travel industry has said is a step too far as it is expensive. In addition to the restriction on dual nationals, those who have recently visited these three countries- as well as other countries listed by the USA as state sponsors of terrorism- would also be required to obtain visas.
“That’s what this bill is created to stop”, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a statement. But the Senate bill is different and could keep it from getting done in time.
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– Enhancing screening of all travelers in Visa Waiver countries. Both bills give the secretary of Homeland Security the authority to take countries out of the waiver system.
