Alfonse D'Amato

It’s too easy for terrorists to get into our country

Posted

One would think, in this post-Sept. 11 world, that it would be very difficult for people from other countries to enter our country.

I was shocked to learn that this isn’t the case. Under the current visa waiver program, citizens from 38 partner countries, including 30 European nations, can travel to the U.S. for business or tourism for up to 90 days without a visa. These people can enter our country without going through the extra security measures that are taken when an individual attempts to procure a visa from a U.S. consulate. In return, U.S. citizens can visit those partner countries with the same stipulations.

At least four of the terrorists responsible for last month’s attack in Paris were French citizens. This means that under the terms of the visa waiver program, those four could have legally entered the U.S. for 90 days as long as they had valid passports.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week, Matt Mayer, who served in a senior position with the Department of Homeland Security, described the two major security gaps in the visa waiver program.

First, according to Mayer, “The U.S. has become wholly dependent upon the competence and thoroughness of the countries that participate.” Over the past two years, thousands of European citizens have gone to Syria to either fight with or against the Islamic State. The European Union’s Schengen Agreement effectively destroyed border controls among 26 European countries, and allows people to travel freely from country to country.

According to Mayer, it is extremely difficult to track where these men and women have previously traveled. This makes it easy for them to covertly travel to the Middle East from Europe and gain access back into Europe without being monitored by any form of security agency.

The second problem with the program is how easy it is for Middle Eastern refugees arriving in Europe to assume new identities.

As Mayer pointed out, “Getting into the Middle East from Europe — and back again to Europe — without being monitored by a European security agency has never been easier.” And at that point, with a valid passport, the U.S. can be the next destination.

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