House tightens controls on visa-free travel to US

[webfact]

House tightens controls on visa-free travel to US
By ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Driven by the Paris terror attacks, the House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to tighten controls on travel to the U.S. and require visas for anyone who's been in Iraq or Syria in the previous five years.

The legislation takes aim at the "visa waiver" program that allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for stays of 90 days and less without first obtaining a visa from an embassy or consulate. Belgium and France, home to most of the perpetrators of last month's Paris attacks, are among the participating countries.

The bill, which passed 407-19, would institute a series of changes, including the new visa requirement for citizens of Iraq, Syria and any other country deemed a terrorist hotspot, along with anyone who's traveled to those countries in the previous five years. Exceptions are made for official government visits and military service.

Countries in the visa waiver program would also be required to share counterterror information with the U.S. or face expulsion from the program. All travelers would be checked against Interpol databases, and visa waiver countries would be required to issue "e-passports" with biometric information.

"You have more than 5,000 individuals that have Western passports in this program that have gone to Iraq or Syria in the last five years," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. "Those are gaps that we need to fix."

Some 20 million visitors come to the U.S. annually under the visa waiver program. They already are screened through an online system maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House has recently announced a series of improvements to that and other aspects of the program.

But in past years, the program has been used by would-be terrorists, including "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who boarded a flight from Paris to Miami in December 2001 without a visa and attempted to set off a bomb. Zacarias Moussaoui, the "20th hijacker" from 9/11, also flew from London to Chicago with a French passport and no visa in February 2001, according to a Homeland Security Inspector General report from 2004.

Lawmakers of both parties spoke in favor of the legislation, which is also backed by the White House. It's a rare area of bipartisan agreement after the Obama administration's fury when the House passed legislation last month cracking down on the Syrian refugee program in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks.

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 visa waivers bill, on the other hand, may be added to a must-pass year-end spending bill now being finalized on Capitol Hill. There is a different version in the Senate by Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona. The travel industry, which backs the House bill as a balanced approach, says the Senate bill goes too far in adding new biometric requirements for all visa waiver travelers that might be difficult to enact.

Separately, some lawmakers are also talking about looking at the fiancé visa program that allowed Tashfeen Malik, the shooter in the recent attacks in San Bernardino, California, into the country. The Homeland Security Department has already announced a review of that program.

A handful of Democratic lawmakers spoke against the visa waiver legislation before its passage. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., said the bill is overbroad in stripping visa waiver privileges from all Syrian and Iraqi nationals and said it should include more exceptions for more people, such as journalists and researchers. "Our focus should be on terrorism, not just country or origin," Ellison said.

But most Democrats joined Republicans in enthusiastically embracing the bill. "This is a good bill, it's one that's time has come," said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-09

[VIPinthailand]

I don't see the point to visit the USA. just too complicated.

[khwaibah]

This will make DT happy.

[NeverSure]

I don't see the point to visit the USA. just too complicated.

No, I just flash my US passport and dance on in, doing a little country western two-step.

Cheers.

[geriatrickid]

I don't see how the US could tighten up the visas for some EU countries without facing retaliation from the entire EU.

Any tightening of the visas will kill the US airline international business. I expect that the strong growth in US tourism this year is about to experience a big drop.

[chilli42]

I don't see how the US could tighten up the visas for some EU countries without facing retaliation from the entire EU.

Any tightening of the visas will kill the US airline international business. I expect that the strong growth in US tourism this year is about to experience a big drop.

Do you think they care what the EU thinks? Do you think they give a toss about their tourism industry? Trust me, they never give either the slightest thought.

[Ulic]

It should also include Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, and a few other countries. It should also

go back 10 years.

[facthailand]

P.ssing in the wind! This is all just security theatre by US pols wanting to get reelected for keeping Americans safe.

Education and other incentives, maybe, but a first step would be calling off the dogs of war that made so many America's enemies.

Oh, yeah. And Western countries could stop the arms trade with corporados profiting from the misery of the rest of the world.

Edited December 9, 2015 by facthailand

[VIPinthailand]

they have Houses in the USA?

they way it's built I call it wood cabins.

Edited December 10, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[ableguy]

I don't see the point to visit the USA. just too complicated.

Depends where you are from , Syria, Yemen , Nigeria, Afgahnistan , Pakistan , you know the type of place, of course it's complicated, it's called home land security..

[ableguy]

they have Houses in the USA?

they way it's built I call it wood cabins.

You really do make an ass of yourself with your constant derogatory comments on the USA, I suspect you have never been there or if you have to a very small area, the USA is bigger than Europe , richer than Europe. More secure than Europe and a damn site more livable , and more than half the world would die for American citizenship.

Get a life.

,

[Chicog]

It's good to see they are putting their valuable time to good use.

I expect Starbucks to be bought up in front of the beak any time soon.

Seriously, what a bunch of chumps!

[sirineou]

I don't see how the US could tighten up the visas for some EU countries without facing retaliation from the entire EU.

Any tightening of the visas will kill the US airline international business. I expect that the strong growth in US tourism this year is about to experience a big drop.

A sensible solution by the US,

I don't see how it makes things too complicated to visit the US as some one else mentioned, or why the EU should retaliate

If you are from a country covered by the visa exclusion, you still don't need a visa, unless you have visited any of the countries mentioned, then you need a visa. A simple process of checking the reasons you visited these countries in the past five years, you explain you were there on business, and you get a visa , you tell them you were there on a bomb making seminar , and you dont

As far as Europe retaliating, sure go for it, we encourage it, If any American has visited these countries , please , require him/her to explain why!! But don't limit yourself to Americans, require anyone who has visited these countries to have a visa, I only makes sense.

[VIPinthailand]

they have Houses in the USA?

they way it's built I call it wood cabins.

You really do make an ass of yourself with your constant derogatory comments on the USA, I suspect you have never been there or if you have to a very small area, the USA is bigger than Europe , richer than Europe. More secure than Europe and a damn site more livable , and more than half the world would die for American citizenship.

Get a life.

,

richer than Europe.? 19t debt , no train system, bridges and Highway collapsing , house in wood that fly away with the first passing tornadoe, people living with credit card with no retirement, millions jail Mate, murder and mass shooting every day , irs mafia....

been there, left with no regret and will never go back in this country full of drug addicts.

[Michael8511]

they have Houses in the USA?

they way it's built I call it wood cabins.

You really do make an ass of yourself with your constant derogatory comments on the USA, I suspect you have never been there or if you have to a very small area, the USA is bigger than Europe , richer than Europe. More secure than Europe and a damn site more livable , and more than half the world would die for American citizenship.

Get a life.

,

I

To say that us is more secure and better then Europe and more livable is bull, yes a lot of people like to go there they think the green money grows on trees. Us is a hard country to make a living and you have to work longer weeks then Europe and also with maybe 2 weeks vacation. There are a few people that make it, also the social security is almost nothing when you retire if you don't work for the government and get pension. I had people working for me that were Union and make $30 per hour and with there health insurance they could not afford medications, had to take them every other day because it was not covered by the insurance. In Europe if you work hard you get good pension and benefits

[MrTee]

oh no, this has put me right off going to the US ..

Looks like it's Mexico or Canada for me then.