Trump cracks down on visa waivers

The Trump administration on Friday announced it will more closely scrutinize countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program, which allows foreigners to travel to the U.S. without first securing a visa.

The U.S. has agreements with 38 countries — all close allies, and mostly from Europe — whose citizens are vetted by U.S. officials and then allowed to travel to America for up to 90 days without a visa.

The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it will now require those countries to keep closer track of travelers within their own borders to improve their internal monitoring of terrorists, and to reduce the number of their citizens who travel to the U.S. and overstay their visas.

Failure to comply with any of those provisions could prompt the U.S. to remove a country from the Visa Waiver Program, or to implement a variety of sanctions that would limit the ability of their citizens to travel to the U.S. Homeland Security officials, however, said they would prefer to work with the countries to fix the problems .

“It’s critically important we stay ahead of these threats by improving our security pos- ture,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement.

The move represents the latest step by the Trump administration to more closely screen incoming travelers in the name of national security.

President Donald Trump has tried several times to implement a travel ban against majority-Muslim countries that he has deemed to be threats because of their ties to terrorism. Trump has also called for an end to the diversity visa lottery and the longstanding practice of “chain migration” — the ability of U.S. citizens to sponsor their extended family for visas.