President Joe Biden’s administration is looking to expand the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) despite warnings from investigators who reviewed failures in the immigration system after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
This week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally nominated Croatia to become the 40th country on the VWP where nationals from each country are allowed to travel to the United States visa-free for up to 90 days.
“While there are still several steps left to be completed in this process, including a final assessment of Croatia’s eligibility by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, I would like to congratulate Croatia on this important milestone and step forward in our relationship,” Blinken said in a statement.
The VWP was last expanded by former President Trump, who added Poland to the list of countries where nationals can travel to the U.S. without first obtaining a visa to do so.
The VWP list already includes Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
The VWP has continuously been expanded since the 9/11 terrorist attacks despite warnings from immigration experts and the 9/11 Commission Staff Report that the program poses serious national security risks for the U.S. and American citizens.
The 9/11 Commission Staff Report, for example, in 2004 warned that visa policy must be considered in the realm of national security as 19 Islamic terrorists were able to obtain visas before carrying out the 9/11 terrorist attacks:
It is perhaps obvious to state that terrorists cannot plan and carry out attacks in the United States if they are unable to enter the country. Yet prior to September 11, while there were efforts to enhance border security, no agency of the U.S. government thought of border security as a tool in the counterterrorism arsenal. Indeed, even after 19 hijackers demonstrated the relative ease of obtaining a U.S. visa and gaining admission into the United States,border security still is not considered a cornerstone of national security policy. We believe, for reasons we discuss in the following pages, that it must be made one. [Emphasis added]
A handful of terrorists have used the VWP to gain entry to the U.S. with the sole purpose of carrying out plots of mass murder. One of those cases involved 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, serving a life sentence, who got a French passport and used the VWP to enter the U.S.
Likewise, Richard Reid, known as the “Shoe Bomber,” used his British passport and the VWP in his effort to blow up a flight from the U.K. to Miami, Florida in 2001.
The latest visa overstay report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reveals that the program adds tens of thousands of illegal aliens to the U.S. population every year. In Fiscal Year 2019, more than 102,500 foreign nationals overstayed their visits to the U.S. and thus became illegal aliens.
The U.K., alone, saw nearly 16,300 of its nationals overstay their VWP admission period in the U.S. in Fiscal Year 2019, while nearly 15,000 Spainards, more than 11,000 French, and nearly 8,600 Italians overstayed as well.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.