Enhanced US

From Yahoo:
"U.S. enhances security screening for travelers from Europe, Asia"

 

Concerned about foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq, Washington imposed extra security measures on Monday for travelers from countries, mostly in Europe and Asia, whose citizens do not need a visa to get into the United States. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said people from countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program will have to provide additional information on an electronic application they need to file to be eligible to enter. "We are taking this step to enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program, to learn more about travelers from countries from whom we do not require a visa," Johnson said in a statement. The move was in response to the security threat posed by the possible radicalization of foreign fighters in Syria who hold Western passports and thus would not arouse suspicion at airports or other entry points. Thirty-eight countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program, or VWP, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other European countries as well as Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, according to the State Department. Visitors from countries in the Visa Waiver Program must get approved through an online system called Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, and pay a fee. Under the rules that took effect Monday, people from those countries will have to provide additional information in the ESTA travel application. That includes other names used, parents' names, national identification number, contact information, employment information and city of birth, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection announcement. The DHS official said the additional data will help identify threats or detect suspected terrorists. Citizens of Canada and Mexico, which share borders with the United States, do not need visas to enter the country as part of a separate program. Some members of Congress have sought to scale back or cancel the Visa Waiver Program in light of the foreign fighters threat. Democratic U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii in September called for a suspension of the program in countries that have large numbers of Islamic extremists fighting abroad.

Monday's CBP announcement on the changes said the Visa Waiver Program does not make Americans more vulnerable, as participating countries must have a high degree of security cooperation with the United States.

 

^ I agree that more attention needs to be paid to foreigners entering the US (whether with or without a visa) US Immigration also needs to focus on those Americans that have travelled to the Arab/Muslim world. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/u-enhances-security-screening-travelers-europe-asia-151449806.html