Ayotte urges additions to “countries of concern” list

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) sent a letter on Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urging him to strengthen information-sharing efforts pursuant to the visa waiver program and calling on him to designate additional “countries of concern.”

“I remain concerned that if law enforcement and intelligence authorities in Visa Waiver Program member countries are unable to keep track of and communicate internally about security threats, they are likely unable to meet their information-sharing obligations to the United States,” Ayotte said. “It is imperative that your department continues to focus on strengthening information-sharing efforts to benefit American security.”

Ayotte said that al Qaeda and ISIS have operated in Algeria, Mali, Tunisia and Niger and asked that those nations be added to the list of “countries of concern.” She noted that she was encouraged by the addition of Somalia, Yemen and Libya to the list, but that more additions to the list were needed.

The original list was signed into law with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, which strengthened the visa waiver program and designated travelers from Iraq, Syria or a state sponsor of terrorism in the last five years as people that cannot travel to the United States under the program.