WASHINGTON — Congress and the White House are poised for a rare agreement in the fight against terrorism with legislation that would slap new travel restrictions on foreign visitors to the U.S. who have recently visited Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan.
Though the bill was given added urgency after the terror attack in San Bernardino, Calif., the proposed changes to the 30-year-old visa waiver program would not stop visitors like San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik, the Pakistani-born woman who entered the U.S. under a separate fiancee visa program in 2014.
Malik and her American-born husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, are responsible for the Wednesday attack that killed 14 people and injured 21.
The House legislation, hammered out in private talks between the administration and congressional leaders after the Paris terror attacks last month, would ban visa-free entry of citizens from 38 countries, including most of Europe and several U.S. allies in Asia, if they report on a travel application that they have visited any of the four targeted countries since 2011.
It would also require all 38 countries participating in the visa waiver program to share traveler information with the U.S. In the past, some countries have been slow to provide such information, U.S. officials complain, and under the bill, those countries could be kicked out of the program if they fail to comply.
A vote in the House is set for Tuesday.
“We should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they’ve traveled to war zones,” President Barack Obama said Sunday in a televised address from the Oval Office. “And we’re working with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that.”
Even backers of the legislation acknowledge it will not eliminate the risk of terrorists with ties to Islamic State or other militant groups entering the U.S. to launch attacks.
“That terrorists are going to self-report is fantasy,” said one congressional aide. “I would not put my faith and confidence in the self-reporting of bad guys. I would much more put it in the information sharing of our allies.”
The visa-waiver bill is one of the only areas of potential agreement between Obama and Congress as Washington struggles to respond to the shifting terror threat.
While a robust bipartisan vote is expected in the House, one potential roadblock remains in the Senate: Powerful California Sen. Dianne Feinstein wants even tougher restrictions added to the visa waiver program.
Feinstein’s approach, drafted with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., requires first-time visitors seeking to come to the U.S. under the visa waiver program to undergo biometric fingerprint and photograph screening at U.S. Embassies or Consulates in their home countries, rather than after they arrive at a port of entry in the United States.
Critics say America’s overseas facilities are not staffed up to handle the expected onslaught of visitors who would need such prescreening. They prefer the current process, in which the screening takes place after travelers arrive at U.S.
Feinstein’s proposal is being watched closely by the nation’s tourism industry, which fears it may complicate or reduce travel to the United States.
U.S. Travel Association President Roger Dow said in a statement the House bill’s more limited approach would bring “thoughtful solutions that will enhance America’s security,” and it warned against “knee-jerk” restrictions that could harm tourism to the U.S.
Also, while the House bill blocks visa-free travel for those who admit to visiting Iran and Sudan, Feinstein’s Senate bill limits the restrictions to Syria and Iraq, and gives the Department of Homeland Security the ability to add countries to the restricted list.
Exceptions to the travel restrictions are allowed in the House proposal for those citizens of visa waiver countries who visited the four countries while conducting government business or as part of the military.
“Sen. Feinstein is encouraged by the consensus on strengthening the security of the visa waiver program and will work with her colleagues to get something signed into law,” said an aide to the California senator who asked for anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.
The visa waiver changes may be attached to a must-pass spending bill to fund government operations that Congress is expected to approve by the end of the week to avoid a federal shutdown.