GSN January 2016 Digital Edition

Access Control
House passes Visa Waiver
program bill that excludes
nationals of Syria, Iraq,
Iran and Sudan
By Joshua Breisblatt
While Congress may be backing
away from targeting the refugee
resettlement program in reaction
to recent terrorist attacks, lawmakers
appear to have found a new
target: the Visa Waiver Program
(VWP). The VWP allows travelers
from certain countries to enter the
United States without obtaining a
visa in advance. Currently, 38 countries,
including France, the United
Kingdom and Taiwan, are part of
this program, with over 20 million
visitors utilizing it each year. It was
created to facilitate more efficient
inbound travel to the U.S. and requires
pre-screening of travelers
who are pre-approved through the
program. In designating a country
to participate, the Department of
Homeland Security, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, considers
only those the U.S. holds “the
best law-enforcement and security
relationships with.”
At the end of November, the
White House announced new security
enhancements for the VWP and
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a willingness to work with Congress
to make additional improvements.
Tuesday, the House of Representatives
overwhelmingly passed, H.R.
158, the Visa Waiver Improvement
and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act
of 2015 by a vote of 407 to 19. The
text of this bill, like the refugee bill
passed in November, was rushed
to the floor with little review (no
committee markup or hearings
on the legislation). The bill terminates
VWP travel privileges for all
citizens of VWP countries who are
also nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, or
Sudan, essentially singling out and
discriminating based on nationality
and national origin. It also excludes
all individuals who have traveled
since March 1, 2011 to certain
countries– including Syria, Iraq and
other designated countries. The bill
also establishes additional reporting
and eligibility requirements for
VWP countries and enhancements
to the Electronic System for Travel
Authorization (ESTA).
Many organizations expressed
concern over the language, saying
it is overbroad and will have unintended
consequences, with one example
being making it potentially
more difficult for journalists and
humanitarian aid workers to travel.
And, according to media reports
the European Union is concerned
as well. David O’Sullivan, the European
Union ambassador to the U.S.,
said visa-waiver members are “really
quite concerned about what is
happening and fear that this could
be extremely counterproductive.”
Despite the criticism, and partly
due to the lopsided vote in the
House Tuesday, there is a great deal
of discussion about including this
bill in the Omnibus spending bill, a
must pass bill that will keep the government
from shutting down. The
current spending bill is set to expire
this Friday, December 11, 2015.
Those discussions, however, are still
ongoing, and for now, the VWP bill
heads over to the Senate, which has
a variety of its own VWP proposals.
In the wake of several recent tragedies,
the rush is on in Congress
to take steps to keep America safe.
Hopefully, in the process, Congress
does not make careless and hurried