 Visa
Reforms Expected
Elton Gallegly, Representative to the U.S. Congress (Republican)
recently introduced the Visa Entry Reform Act, which if
passed would make sweeping changes in U.S. visa policy. The proposed
act would require the federal government to make the most use of the
technology it has at its disposal in order to improve the tracking
of foreign visitors. According to the proposed bill the Homeland
Security Office, together with other U.S. federal agencies need “to
establish and supervise a single computerized database to screen and
identify inadmissible or deportable aliens.” All information
gathered this way would be made available to Immigration officials,
the Customs Service, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
One of the provisions states that the U.S. Secretary of State would
establish a “Terrorist Lookout Committee” at every U.S.
embassy in the world and would develop, together with the attorney
general’s office, a “Smart Visa” system including
“machine-readable visas containing biometric information.” Another
requirement would be that all “air, land, or sea carriers arriving
from a foreign country provide the United States with specified crew
and passenger manifest information prior to departure” to the U.S.
The new law would also deny visas to foreign students coming from
countries listed by the State Department as terrorist sponsors. The
U.S. federal government would also expand the foreign student
monitoring program. It is estimated that the U.S. State Department
grants over half a million student visas each year. "Each year,
there are 300 million border crossings in the United States. For the
most part, these individuals are legitimate visitors to the nation,
but the country lacks the ability to track all these visitors," said
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California.
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