Hurd Introduces Bill to Eliminate Visa Loopholes

We cannot afford to let terrorists slip through the cracks" Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C.  As part of an ongoing counter-terrorism initiative Congressman Will Hurd a former CIA officer and current member of the House Committee of Homeland Security introduced a measure to enhance Visa screening procedures at U.S. Embassy posts overseas. Under the bill the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is authorized to assign counter-terrorism personnel and biometric screening technology to thirty U.S. Embassy posts around the world to vet and screen all visa applicants against the appropriate criminal national security and terrorism databases maintained by the federal government. The bill also requires Customs and Border Patrol to utilize facial recognition and other biometric technology when available 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" said Hurd. Since 2014 nearly 40000 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 anymorewe 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." Despite improvements in the visa security screening process since 2001 terrorists and other nefarious actors have exploited the system to enter the United States. Rep. Hurd knows this threat first-hand from his work conducting consular interviews as an undercover officer in the Central Intelligence Agency added 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. As we have seen in the recent attacks in San Bernardino and elsewhere visa security is an important element of security here at home and this common-sense bill will help to prevent similar attacks in the future."

The Strong Visa Integrity Secures America Act of 2016 is expected to advance in upcoming weeks.