Among other things, the measure would require visitors from the visa waiver countries, which include much of western Europe, to obtain a visa to travel to the United States if they had been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan during the past five years. The Senate would impose a five-year restriction on individuals who have traveled to Iraq or Syria from using the waiver program.
Advertisement
“As a Congress, we have no more important responsibility than to protect the American people from all enemies foreign and domestic”. Its passage requires USA security agencies conduct more frequent assessments of visa waiver countries to determine whether they pose a high risk to US security, and if so they could be suspended from the program, according to the Associated Press.
The White House announced its support of the bill following the coordinated terror attacks which took place in various locations across Paris on November 13, after it was found that attackers had been radicalised whilst in Syria.
The measure, passed 407-19, is part of lawmakers’ efforts to improve domestic security after terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris and 14 in San Bernardino, California.
Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) says that most House Democrats are likely to support reforms to the visa waiver program.
Around 20 million travelers enter the US each year without a visa through the waiver program.
All 38 countries would be required to issue their citizens new fraud-resistant “e-passports” that contain information like fingerprints.
If the bill is finally executed, passed into the Senate and formally signed into a law, this would require travelers arriving in the United States under the VWP to possess an electronic passport with biometrics data starting in April 2016.
“The stakes have never been higher as radical Islamic terrorists continue to look for any opportunity to infiltrate America to kill us and carry out their barbaric attacks in our communities”, Hudson said in a statement. “This bill fixes holes in our visa waiver program to help prevent terrorists from traveling to the United States”. Now those eligible can travel for limited time periods without having to apply for a visa.
The “Visa Waiver Program Improvement Act of 2015” (H.R. 158), which Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., introduced earlier this year, received bipartisan support when the vote came on Tuesday.
Advertisement
Last month, Rep. Stewart also voted to strengthen the vetting process for Syrian refugees looking to enter the United States.
