The Obama administration announced Thursday that it has started to implement a law passed last month that will deny foreign nationals from using the U.S. Visa Waiver Program if they’ve traveled to Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria.
But it also outlined the different kinds of waivers it might grant people who have traveled to those countries, exceptions that were already ginning up political opposition from Republicans.
One of these is a specific waiver for people doing “legitimate” business in Iran. The State Department has warned for weeks that this kind of exception might be possible under the law, and the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release Thursday that there were several other kinds of travel that are “eligible” for a waiver of the tighter visa rules.
Republicans have said they fear the administration will try to exempt Iran in particular from the visa rules in order to keep Iran happy as it implements the Iran nuclear agreement, and the DHS announcement drew immediate opposition from House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who said DHS created several broad categories of exemptions when the waivers were supposed to be more narrow.
“In drafting this bill, Congress included a national security and law enforcement waiver to exempt certain individuals from the new requirements only in limited circumstances,” he said. “It was never designed or intended to apply to broad categories of VWP travelers,” he added, referring to the Visa Waiver Program.
That permits visa-free travel access to the U.S., and lets people from 38 partner countries participate. But in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, the program has come under heavy criticism, especially from Republicans who want to reduce the flow of travelers from countries plagued by terrorism to the U.S.
Congress passed legislation last year that people who have traveled to any of the four countries can’t participate in the program. People who are nationals of both a partner country and Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria also can’t participate.
However, DHS said Thursday that several exceptions could be made, including travel for government officials or organizations on official duty, and those who travel to the four countries for humanitarian or journalism purposes.
DHS also said it would “continue to explore whether and how” waivers might be used for dual nationals of the four countries.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., joined McCaul in saying the possible exceptions outlined by DHS were unacceptable.
“President Obama and his administration’s decision to abuse their limited waiver authority to allow scores of people who have traveled to or are dual nationals of countries like Iraq and Syria flies in the face of reason and congressional intent,” he said. While DHS is for now exploring whether an exception can be created for dual nationals, Goodlatte’s comment indicates a belief that DHS will somehow find a way, around the will of Congress.
Joel Gehrke contributed
This story was last updated at 4:51 p.m.
