After Paris, Obama Administration Changes Visa Waiver Program
- 8 years ago
The Obama administration has announced some changes to the visa waiver program, which allows travelers from some 38 countries including France, Belgium and other European countries, to come to the U.S. without a visa.
The White House announced several steps, including attempting better tracking of past travel, fines for airlines that don't verify passport data, assisting other countries on the screening of refugees and with border security.
It is also promising reports to the president in two months from the State Department and the FBI about how to include better fingerprinting and photographing, as well as an evaluation of the state of intelligence coordination between the U.S. and its allies.
The visa waiver program has come under scrutiny in the wake of the Paris attacks as a possible security gap - the idea being that Europeans, for example, who've gone to Syria to train with ISIS could then easily slip into the U.S. because of this program.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working on legislation aimed at tightening the program.
The White House announced several steps, including attempting better tracking of past travel, fines for airlines that don't verify passport data, assisting other countries on the screening of refugees and with border security.
It is also promising reports to the president in two months from the State Department and the FBI about how to include better fingerprinting and photographing, as well as an evaluation of the state of intelligence coordination between the U.S. and its allies.
The visa waiver program has come under scrutiny in the wake of the Paris attacks as a possible security gap - the idea being that Europeans, for example, who've gone to Syria to train with ISIS could then easily slip into the U.S. because of this program.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working on legislation aimed at tightening the program.