{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr158-114/featured_visa-waiver-program-improvement-and-terrorist-travel-prevention-act-of-2015-1485895753.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr158-114/featured_large_visa-waiver-program-improvement-and-terrorist-travel-prevention-act-of-2015-1485895753.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr158-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-01-06","title_override":"Considering \"Terrorism Risk\" When Screening People Entering the U.S. Without a Visa","summary_override":"

This bill aims to tighten up security processes in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), while requiring additional reporting from the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) on program data. The VWP allows citizens of 38 countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa.

If a country does not agree to share security threat information about its citizens and nationals with the U.S., the DHS Secretary would have the authority to suspend that country from the VWP, without warning.

The automated system used to determine the eligibility of people who want to travel into the U.S. — the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) — would be expanded to also consider \"terrorism risk\" as a factor. DHS could consequently assess \"terrorism risk\" when deciding whether a non-citizen is eligible to travel to the U.S.

DHS would also have to deliver a report to Congress on:

The number of people, identified by their countries of citizenship or nationality, denied eligibility to travel, or whose eligibility was revoked under the ESTA because they posed a security threat;
Steps that can be taken to strengthen the ESTA;
Compliance by foreign governments with information sharing agreements on passport theft or loss and whether a country’s citizens or nationals traveling to the U.S. pose a security threat.

","official_title":"To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide enhanced security measures for the visa waiver program, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding the visa waiver program to require that an alien, when applying for program admission, possess a valid unexpired passport that:\n\n is machine-readable, tamper-resistant, incorporates document authentication identifiers, and otherwise satisfies the internationally accepted standard for machine readability; and beginning on April 1, 2016, is an electronic passport that is fraud-resistant, contains relevant biographic and biometric information, and satisfies internationally accepted standards for electronic passports. A program country must certify that:\n\n it issues passports that satisfy the internationally accepted standard for machine readability, and as of April 1, 2016, passports that satisfy internationally accepted standards for electronic passports; and by October 1, 2016, except for travel between countries within the Schengen Zone (26...","summarized":true,"cost":1000000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this bill would cost about $1 million in 2016 and less than $500,000 per year annually thereafter.","impact":"People living in the U.S., citizens or nationals of countries in the Visa Waiver Program and their governments, U.S. diplomatic relations with those countries, Congress, and the Dept. of Homeland Security.","argument_for":"The Dept. of Homeland Security needs to reform the Visa Waiver Program screening process to ensure it is not exploited by those who want to commit acts of terrorism. 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Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Counterterrorism Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/counterterrorism/black_counterterrorism-1454596599.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/counterterrorism/grey_counterterrorism-1454596599.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/counterterrorism/white_counterterrorism-1454596599.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"immigration","name":"Immigration","slug":"immigration","description":"Whether you want to refer to the U.S. as a cultural melting pot or a cultural mosaic, immigrants make up a substantial portion of the country. Tell your congressperson how you feel about current legislation related to immigration!","page_title":"Immigration Bills on Countable - Vote on Legislation, Stay informed, Hold Government Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/black_immigration-1429042063.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/grey_immigration-1429042063.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/immigration/white_immigration-1429042063.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Henry","vote_count":118,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10207126766350311/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10207126766350311/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10207126766350311/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10207126766350311/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/AmpLYRwm/following","followers":"/api/users/AmpLYRwm/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":90,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":3,"following_count":0,"position_count":73,"id":"AmpLYRwm","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"a458afaf-16d7-44d2-b59b-eb92b279b1dc","argument_for":"American safety comes 1st. Use whatever measures necessary...which is btw what every other country does. We have just contracted the liberal insanity.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/a458afaf-16d7-44d2-b59b-eb92b279b1dc"},"body":"American safety comes 1st. Use whatever measures necessary...which is btw what every other country does. We have just contracted the liberal insanity.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-09-30T14:19:28.268Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/a458afaf-16d7-44d2-b59b-eb92b279b1dc.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr158-114","user_id":"AmpLYRwm","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Considering "Terrorism Risk" When Screening People Entering the U.S. Without a Visa