A leading U.S. travel industry group today strongly criticized a push in the Senate to limit Europeans' access to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
The Visa Waiver Program is reportedly caught in the crossfire between Democrats and Republicans over the GOP's attempts to ban Syrian refugees from settling in the U.S. in the wake of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris. Democratic Senators led by California's Diane Feinstein would tighten fingerprinting requirements and ban visa waivers to European citizens who have been to Iraq or Syria in the past five years, according to The Hill, a well-respected Washington, D.C.-based political news organization. A number of Republicans are co-sponsoring or supporting the Visa Waiver Program bill, it added.
"It would be a grave error by Congress to scapegoat a successful program -- without as much as a hearing -- that had zero to do with a recent tragedy," said Jonathan Grella, executive vice president for public affairs of the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), in a statement. "On crucial matters of security above all others, Congress is obligated to be as clear-eyed and deliberative as possible, and not fall prey to the time-honored tradition of rushed, emotional overreactions."
Calling the Visa Waiver Program "a rare, exemplary government program that delivers both security and economic benefits," Grella added: "It makes the world safer through secure travel partnerships between allied countries, with rigorous additional standards for passport security, intelligence sharing, and inspection of each other's screening protocols. It also significantly bolsters travel to the U.S., which happens to be serious business that could easily go elsewhere."
The USTA suggested four areas in which Congressional action would better improve travel safety:
• Faster and wider expansion of the preclearance and immigration advisory programs that move security screening overseas and relieves pressure on gateway airports.
• Working with other governments to build their watchlisting and vetting systems, especially in the aviation environment.
• Increasing availability of the Global Entry Program to increase the numbers of rigorously screened, trusted travelers.
• Specialized screening for travelers who have recently traveled to countries of law enforcement concern, such as Syria, or for certain dual passport holders.
"We urge Congress to carefully consider how to tweak the Visa Waiver Program to respond to the threat, rather than engaging in security theater," Grella concluded. "Keep calm. And then legislate."