The US restricts travel of foreigners who visited Syria

The House of Representatives took the decision to tighten visa-free travel to the US following the Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks

People who traveled to Iraq, Syria, Iran and Sudan after March 2011 will be affected by these measures and will need a visa to enter US. The House voted 407 to 19 in support of the change of visa requirements, as the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) currently includes 38 nations.

“In an abundance of caution, we will now require those individuals to apply for a visa and go through the formal visa screening process.

“We live in a free and open society.

“But you have the enemies of freedom who are using our freedoms against us. We have to think clearly about what we can do to mitigate any vulnerability that we have”, declared House Republican Candice Miller.

Furthermore, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for even greater restrictions and proposed that all Muslims be forbidden to enter US. The proposal was condemned by all the political class.

If the bill passes through the Senate and becomes law, all VWP travelers will be obligated to have fraud resistant biometric data passports from next April.

The new bill represents the most significant security measures since the September 2001 attacks that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Moreover, US officials are also considering to require new preclearance procedures in a traveler’s country of origin. Banning the sale of guns to people on the government’s watch list is also an issue on the government’s agenda.