Hurd introduces bill eliminating visa loopholes

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) introduced the Strong Visa Integrity Secures America Act of 2016, H.R. 5253, on Thursday to enhance visa screening procedures at U.S. embassy outposts overseas.

The bill calls for the Department of Homeland Security to assign counterterrorism personnel and biometric screening technology to 30 U.S. embassy outposts around the world to vet and screen all visa applicants against the appropriate criminal, national security and terrorism databases maintained by the federal government. Additionally, the bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use facial recognition and biometric technology to screen visa waiver program travelers at airports.

“As the threats against the United States continue to grow, we must respond by eliminating loopholes, strengthening screening measures, and deploying trained personnel,” Hurd said. “Since 2014, nearly 40,000 foreign fighters from more than 120 countries have traveled to Syria to join or aid ISIS. We are not just looking at people from ISIS strongholds anymore — we must adequately screen westerners as well. There have already been over two dozen ISIS-linked attack plots inside the U.S., and we cannot afford to let would-be terrorists slip through the cracks.”

The bill’s introduction was met by the support of House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX).

“The Strong Visa Integrity Secures America Act will significantly increase the security of the visa process by stationing specially trained law-enforcement officers at embassies and consulates around the world to prevent terrorists from ever boarding an airplane,” McCaul said.