The Obama administration on Monday proposed enhanced scrutiny of non-U.S. citizens seeking to enter the country through the visa waiver program in the wake of November’s terrorist attack in Paris that has Congress increasingly worried about taking in immigrants.
After revelations that at least one of the Paris attackers snuck into Europe posing as a refugee of the Syrian civil war, the House passed legislation to halt the administration’s plan to allow 10,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S. this year.
But President Obama has said the legislation is unnecessary and would add bureaucracy to the refugee program without making the country any safer. Instead, he called on Congress to work with him to shore up the visa-waiver program’s security measures.
The program allows visitors from 38 countries to enter the U.S. without visas. Through the program, 20 million travelers visit the country annually, according to the White House.
Even before the self-proclaimed Islamic State attacked Paris on Nov. 13, the administration stepped up the program’s security protocols. On Monday, it ordered additional measures.
Specifically, Obama ordered the Homeland Security Department to track whether applicants seeking admittance into the U.S. via the program previously traveled to a terrorist safe-haven country. Homeland Security will also assess participating countries’ security compliance and explore biometric security pilot programs.
The FBI director will evaluate participating countries’ terrorism-information sharing with the U.S. and tell Obama within 60 days how to improve it. Relevant cabinet secretaries will also play up an “expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers” program called global entry.
The administration will also deploy “foreign fighter surge teams” to participating countries to help check terrorist travel.
In addition to asking Congress to codify the changes, the administration wants lawmakers to increase fines on airlines that don’t verify passengers’ passports, from $5,000 to $50,000, and require all program participants to use passports with embedded security chips.
The administration also wants lawmakers to expand the number of airports using Homeland Security’s preclearance program, through which Homeland Security officers inspect passengers and their luggage boarding U.S.-bound flights at foreign airports.
