House passes bill to tighten visa waiver program

While the bill received bipartisan support from lawmakers, some civil liberties groups warned that the measure was too broadly written and could unfairly exclude people, reports RT.

Rep. Richard Hudson joined his fellow House members this week in overwhelmingly passing legislation to overhaul the federal visa waiver program. VWP countries must participate in security reviews every other year, offer reciprocal visa-free travel to US citizens, and share counterterrorism and law enforcement information with the U.S.

The House voted 407-19 Tuesday to tighten the Visa Waiver Program that lets people from certain countries travel to the United States without first obtaining a visa – a reaction to fear of terrorism, particularly given the roles of French and Belgian nationals in last month’s Paris attacks. All travelers would be checked against Interpol databases, and visa waiver countries would be required to issue “e-passports” with biometric information.

This bill – House Resolution 158 – is likely to be included in an omnibus spending bill that U.S. legislators are now finalising before government funding runs out this Friday. The House measure received the support of the US Travel Association, The Post noted.

The US administration backs a bill that would make it harder for visitors to Iraq, Syria and countries listed as supporting terrorism to travel visa-free to the United States, the State Department said Wednesday.

Some 20 million visitors come to the US annually under the visa waiver program. But the program has been used on at least a few occasions in the past by terrorist plotters, including Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who attempted to ignite a bomb while flying from Paris to Miami in December 2001.

Tashfeen Malik did not enter the country under the visa waiver program, although President Obama falsely implied she did in his nationally televised speech Sunday night.

West Michigan lawmakers are now responding to the legislation.

Senators Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, and Feinstein have introduced separate legislation in the Senate.

“The 9/11 Commission said that ‘for terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons.’ I couldn’t agree more”, said Subcommittee Chairman Miller.

“It’s critically important that we make sure that if there has been that kind of travel overseas that we do background checks and we make sure that we know who is coming into the United States in order to keep us safe”, Noem said.

While most of Trump’s Republican rivals condemned his proposal-with the significant exceptions of Dr. Ben Carson and Senator Ted Cruz, running second and third in most polls-none of them said they would not support Trump if he wins the Republican nomination.