Visa waiver program is critical to national security

It’s been thirteen years since the horrific attacks of September 11, but the threat of foreign terrorist fighters attacking the American homeland remains today. Headlines on ISIS movements dominate news coverage, and a recent Washington Post–ABC News poll showed that 90 percent of Americans view ISIS as a serious threat to vital U.S. interests. 

These concerns have prompted some members of Congress to call for restrictions on travel to the U.S. In October, a bill was introduced in the House that would suspend the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in countries whose citizens have joined Islamic extremists. Another House bill went even further, calling to suspend the VWP until the comptroller general assesses its national security risks. While well-intentioned, such a move would actually do serious harm to our national security. Suspension of the program would undermine current information and intelligence-sharing mechanisms and deprive the U.S. of visibility into their security practices, including those to prevent radicalization and identify foreign fighters. It would also remove a powerful and proven incentive to elevate security standards and to enhance cooperation with the United States on security matters. 

{mosads}On a bipartisan basis, national security experts, policymakers, and industry insiders all agree: terminating – or even suspending – VWP would not help our national security, economy, and overall foreign policy. President Bush’s Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff called the program “a 21st century solution to the problem of managing to keep terrorists out of the United States.”  President Obama’s homeland security team has expressed similar views as well. 

A new white paper by members of Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s homeland security practice titled “How the Visa Waiver Program is Keeping America Safe,” reaffirms that VWP is central to keeping the homeland safe and details how suspending the program would be harmful our national security. The paper discusses key security benefits of VWP and the essential role it plays as part of the U.S. government’s layered border security approach.   

VWP operates alongside other security procedures to support information sharing, international cooperation, and partnerships with foreign law enforcement and intelligence services. The program provides better information about which travelers might pose a threat, because the 38 participating countries must share information about their suspected terrorists and criminals. Supplementing the U.S. government’s “watch lists” with information from a traveler’s home government is invaluable. 

Under VWP, the U.S. is able to mandate stringent security measures – measures that are continually confirmed through audits of participating countries’ counterterrorism, law enforcement, border control, aviation and travel document security standards. In fact, with respect to preventing terrorist travel, the VWP’s security measures were seconded by the U.N. Security Council in September through U.N. Security Council Resolution 2178. 

While VWP “waives” the face-to-face consular interview, it mandates more pertinent security screening requirements such as the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). ESTA enables individualized pre-travel and recurrent screening of VWP travelers against multiple law enforcement and security databases, including the Terrorist Screening Database and INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Document database. This process not only functions as a more powerful tool than the consular interview but, since the screening is done before departure, VWP essentially pushes out the virtual border, preventing those posing a threat from being able to board a plane. 

Critics have raised concerns about ISIS terrorists’ ability to enter the U. S. under the VWP. They continue to cite the example of the “Shoe Bomber,” Richard Reid, who, as a British citizen, traveled under the VWP in December 2001. But these critics fail to mention that this incident occurred before the VWP was completely restructured to make it a security-enhancing program.  Indeed, the name of the program is now misleading; while “waiver” suggests a loosening of standards, in fact security has been enhanced. Electronic screening against multiple law enforcement and security databases allows us to collect more information than we would be able to gather in an interview.  Furthermore, the value of conducting a visa interview with every one of millions of travelers is vastly outweighed by the security benefits of the VWP: better data about who poses a threat, better ability to recognize of forged documents, better foreign security standards, and routine auditing of those standards by the U.S. government. 

Recently introduced legislation on Capitol Hill would suspend or terminate the VWP. This would not enhance national security or address the ISIS threat; in fact, it would be a step back to outdated assumptions and practices that would hamper current information-sharing mechanisms. Suspending or terminating this critical program would undo the tremendous security groundwork with both current and prospective VWP members and greatly upset our foreign relations and economic ties with key allies. 

It is critical that we continually evaluate successful existing security programs like the VWP to identify enhancements (e.g., requiring additional data be submitted to ESTA), much like the Department of Homeland Security continually evaluates participating countries and recommends improvements to their security postures. 

While quick decisions and emotional responses often occur in times of heightened security concerns, any discussion of the VWP must remain focused on the facts. The facts are that the VWP enhances our ability to detect and prevent terrorist travel, ensures elevated security standards for member countries, incentivizes prospective members to meet elevated security standards, and gives the U.S. access to unprecedented levels of intelligence and information. 

Baker is former assistant secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. and currently a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

For more information about VWP’s security benefits, counterterrorism capabilities and role in keeping the homeland safe, download a copy of “How the Visa Waiver Program is Keeping America Safe.”