White House tightens visa waiver program

WASHINGTON — In the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, the White House on Monday announced new requirements to a program that has allowed passengers from 38 countries — including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and most of Europe — to fly to the United States without a visa.

The travel industry offered its support for the effort but cautioned the White House and Congress against overreacting in a way that could harm tourism.

"The American travel community continues to be amenable to enhancements to the Visa Waiver Program. Travel cannot thrive without security," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. "Our hope is that the debate remains a substantive one and does not devolve into political theater."

The travel association would evaluate ideas for strengthening the Visa Waiver Program with an open mind "based on their feasibility and contributions to our security," Dow said.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said Monday that she is carefully monitoring the administration's efforts and reviewing proposals in Congress to change the program to protect its basic goal of facilitating travel.

"Any changes made to the Visa Waiver Program, either by the administration, or by Congress, must be done to strengthen the system by increasing security without moving it away from the original goal of facilitating travel throughout the world," she said. "The VWP has been critical in ensuring that millions of foreign tourists can visit Las Vegas without onerous visa requirements while also serving as an important tool for protecting our national security."

Nearly 1.5 million foreigners have landed at McCarran International Airport this year with most flying in on Canadian, Mexican and British airlines, according to airport statistics.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who is traveling with Obama in Paris, told reporters there on Monday that the waiver visa program changes "will improve our ability to identify individuals who may have traveled to conflict zones, enhance our ability to thwart terrorist attempts to travel on lost or stolen passports, and will facilitate increased information-sharing with our European partners."

The program will now include screening travelers based on past travel to a country known as a terrorist safe haven such as Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.

The Department of Homeland Security will examine how well participating waiver countries are cooperating with security reviews with an eye toward fixing any deficiencies. And, participating countries will be encouraged to expand the use of fingerprints and photographs to identify passengers.

Earnest also noted that the program is important to the economy by facilitating some 20 million visitors to the United States from these 38 countries.

"It does facilitate the kind of travel that has a positive impact on our economy," he said. "What it also means is ... individuals are subjected to some scrutiny and to some background checks prior to boarding an airplane. So there are some significant security gains derived from this program. The question is, are there some things that we can do to strengthen that screening prior to individuals boarding an airplane?"

Titus said she will be consulting with travel and tourism leaders in Las Vegas on any proposed changes that Congress might consider.

Dow, at the U.S. Travel Association, said the travel community has supported measures the Obama administration took earlier to strengthen the program and bolster screening. The group is also supporting legislation proposed by Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., to reform the program. What it is not supporting is more radical calls for ending the program — as has been suggested by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who is running for president.

"Tempting though it sometimes may be, we can't simply shut ourselves off from the world. If we do, shame on us, because then we're giving the enemy precisely what they want — terror, resignation, our prosperity and our very way of life," Dow said. "The Visa Waiver Program is an effective, essential security tool that we cannot afford to relinquish, especially when it played zero role in the Paris attacks. Let's address the security problems we have, rather than creating new ones."

Contact Peter Urban at purban@reviewjournal.com or at 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @PUrbanDC