Homeland Security amps up security for visa-free program for millions of travelers

Washington Post

By Jerry Markon

August 11, 2015

Homeland Security amps up security for visa-free program for millions of travelers 

For months, bi-partisan legislators on Capitol Hill have called on the Obama administration to tighten security for a program that allows millions of foreigners to travel to the United States without visas.

Now, at a time of growing concern about terrorist threats at home and abroad, the Department of Homeland Security has decided to put into place what it calls important security enhancements for the Visa Waiver Program.

Begun in the mid-1980s to spur tourism and business travel, the program allows citizens from 38 countries, mostly European, to enter the United States and remain for as long as 90 days, bypassing the in-person interview at a U.S. consulate abroad traditionally required for a visa. It was conceived in an earlier era, when citizens of traditional European allies were not viewed as threats.

But the threat posed by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, combined with the influx of foreign fighters into Syria to join such groups, has triggered concern in recent months that radicalized Europeans could return home, fly to the United States without visas and carry out attacks here.

In response, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson recently announced that visa waiver countries will be required to allow expanded use of U.S. federal air marshals on international flights to the United States. Travelers from those countries, he said, will also be required to use e-passports, which contain an electronic chip with a variety of information about the passport holder, including a digital photograph.

“The current global threat environment requires that we know more about those who travel to the United States. This includes those from countries for which we do not require a visa,” Johnson said in a statement. “The security enhancements…are part of this Department’s continuing assessments of our homeland security in the face of evolving threats and challenges, and our determination to stay one step ahead of those threats and challenges.”

Despite the concerns, DHS officials in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations have strongly backed the Visa Waiver Program, and Johnson reaffirmed that it is still considered “a valuable program for lawful trade and travel with this Nation’s most trusted partners.”

Thirty of the 38 visa-waiver countries are European, along with a smattering of traditional U.S. allies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. To travel to the United States visa-free, citizens or nationals of those countries must apply through an online system that requires them to provide biographical information. If the online system declares them eligible, they can board planes but still must be cleared by customs and immigration when they arrive in the United States. Participating countries allow similar visa-free travel for U.S. citizens.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a leading Senate voice on national security, had said earlier this year that she planned to introduce legislation to strengthen the program’s security. A spokeswoman for Feinstein said Monday that the senator is still reviewing Johnson’s changes. Some leading Republican legislators have also called for tougher security requirements.

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