Senate Democrats are pushing a legislative alternative to stopping the U.S. plan to accept Syrian refugees, which would place restrictions on which Europeans receive visa waivers.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), would keep Europeans who have traveled to Iraq or Syria in the past five years from entering the U.S. without a travel visa, according to The Hill. Under the visa waiver program, citizens from certain European countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa.
“Let’s say France has had 2,000 people leave to go and fight [in Syria.] They’re a visa waiver country so the people come back to France and then they come into the United States. The bill we would propose would strictly limit that,” Feinstein told reporters on Wednesday, according to The Hill.
The bill would also change fingerprinting requirements for those covered by the visa waiver program.
“Currently, in most cases, the fingerprints are checked after they arrive in the United States. They should be done before,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said, according to The Hill.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that senators discussed concerns over the visa waiver program more than the vetting of Syrian refugees during a briefing with Department of Homeland Security officials on Wednesday, according to Roll Call.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “the visa waiver program potentially is the place where there’s greater gaps possibly than the refugee program itself,” according to The Hill.
Wow, a reasoned, reasonable proposal.
Has no chance passing the republicans, of course.
““Let’s say France has had 2,000 people leave to go and fight [in Syria.] They’re a visa waiver country so the people come back to France and then they come into the United States. The bill we would propose would strictly limit that,” Feinstein told reporters on Wednesday, according to The Hill.”
So, who really thinks that anyone who intends to cause us harm after the Paris attacks will just saunter over to Syria ON RECORD so we can track it? Because clearly France isn’t already watching this travel. This build up of unnecessary bureaucracy will serve exactly no purpose. If you want to do this, then you have to get rid of Visa waivers, period.
Sounds “reasonable”, except the Europeans who went to fight in Syria do not go there directly with their national passports. They travel to Turkey then slip into Syria/Iraq with or without fake passports… If this is the track Senate wants to follow, they shd simply suspend the visa waiver program & beef up the Global Entry traveler program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.
Still the GOP is ramping up demagoguery not because they care about security, but because this melee strokes their Bigotry erogenous zones a la Ebola frenzy last year that netted them electoral victories.
Exactly.
This is just pandering by the Blue Dogs to appease the panicked, cowardly Americans who watch nothing but FOX News all day long.
Ah just said same below. Thinking alike simultaneously.