Federal

Securing the Visa Waiver Program Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 799 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the rules for countries in the Visa Waiver Program (a program that lets citizens of certain countries enter the United States without a visa). The bill requires these countries to share information about suspected terrorists and criminals with the United States, and to work together with U.S. law enforcement to prevent and fight serious crime.

Who It Affects

Citizens and nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries traveling to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (the federal agency that manages immigration). Visa Waiver Program countries themselves.

Key Provisions

• Countries in the Visa Waiver Program must enter into agreements with the United States to share information about whether their citizens represent a security threat to the United States or its citizens, and must fully carry out these agreements. (Sec. 2(a)) • Countries must share thorough, accurate and current information about their citizens who are known or suspected to be involved in terrorism or conduct related to terrorism, and must fully carry out these agreements. (Sec. 2(a)) • Countries must set up agreements with the United States for stronger law enforcement cooperation, including sharing fingerprint and personal data about their citizens who committed serious felonies (major crimes), and must fully carry out these agreements. (Sec. 2(a)) • The Secretary of Homeland Security must immediately remove a country from the Visa Waiver Program if that country fails to meet these information-sharing requirements within 3 months for countries already in the program, or within 6 months for newly joining countries. (Sec. 2(b)) • A country removed from the program may rejoin only after showing it has followed the rules for a time period decided by the Secretary of Homeland Security. This period must be at least as long as either the time the country was not following the rules or the most recent 3-month period, whichever is longer. (Sec. 2(b))

What Changes

The bill adds new requirements to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Countries in the Visa Waiver Program now must sign agreements to share terrorist watch list information and criminal data with the United States. If a country does not comply with these requirements within the given time limits, the Secretary of Homeland Security must immediately terminate that country's participation in the Visa Waiver Program.

Important Definitions

• "Aggravated felony" (serious crime that carries increased penalties) is referenced but not defined in this bill text. • "Biometric and biographic data" means fingerprints and personal information.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 493 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require Visa Waiver Pro- gram countries to share watch list information about known or suspected terrorists and to fully cooperate with United States law enforcement entities in preventing and combating serious crime. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 16, 2023 Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require Visa Waiver Program countries to share watch list infor- mation about known or suspected terrorists and to fully cooperate with United States law enforcement entities in preventing and combating serious crime. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing the Visa 4 Waiver Program Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S493.IS S493 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 493 IS SEC. 2. VISA WAIVER PROGRAM INFORMATION SHARING 1 AGREEMENTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 217(c)(2)(F) of the Immi- 3 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(2)(F)) is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(F) INFORMATION SHARING AGREE- 6 MENTS.— 7 ‘‘(i) SECURITY THREATS.—The gov- 8 ernment of the country enters into an 9 agreement with the United States to share 10 information regarding whether citizens and 11 nationals of that country traveling to the 12 United States represent a threat to the se- 13 curity or welfare of the United States or 14 its citizens, and fully implements such 15 agreement. 16 ‘‘(ii) TERRORIST WATCH LISTS.—The 17 government of the country enters into an 18 agreement with the United States to share 19 thorough, accurate, and current informa- 20 tion about citizens and nationals of that 21 country who are known or appropriately 22 suspected to be or have been engaged in 23 conduct constituting, in preparation for, in 24 aid of, or related to terrorism, and fully 25 implements such agreement. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S493.IS S493 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 493 IS ‘‘(iii) ENHANCING COOPERATION IN 1 PREVENTING AND COMBATING SERIOUS 2 CRIME.—The government of the country 3 enters into an agreement with the United 4 States to establish frameworks for en- 5 hanced law enforcement cooperation, in- 6 cluding the exchange of biometric and bio- 7 graphic data relating to citizens and na- 8 tionals of that country who have engaged 9 in, or are appropriately suspected of en- 10 gaging in, an aggravated felony, and shar- 11 ing any relevant underlying information for 12 law enforcement purposes, and fully imple- 13 ments such agreement.’’. 14 (b) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH INFOR- 15 MATION SHARING AGREEMENTS.—Section 217(c) of the 16 Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by sub- 17 section (a), is further amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(13) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 20 INFORMATION SHARING AGREEMENTS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 22 Homeland Security shall immediately terminate 23 the designation of a country as a program 24 country if such country fails to comply with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S493.IS S493 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 493 IS requirements under subparagraph (D) or (F) of 1 paragraph (2) within— 2 ‘‘(i) the 3-month period beginning on 3 the date of the enactment of this para- 4 graph, if such country was a program 5 country on such date of enactment; or 6 ‘‘(ii) the 6-month period beginning on 7 the date on which such country became a 8 program country. 9 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY TO REJOIN.—A program 10 country whose participation in the program is 11 terminated pursuant to subparagraph (A) may 12 be permitted to rejoin the program by pro- 13 ducing evidence that the country has come into 14 compliance and continuously complied with sub- 15 paragraphs (D) and (F) of paragraph (2) for a 16 period, as determined by the Secretary of 17 Homeland Security, that is at least as long as 18 the longer of— 19 ‘‘(i) the period during which the coun- 20 try was out of compliance with such sub- 21 paragraphs; or 22 ‘‘(ii) the most recent 3-month pe- 23 riod.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S493.IS S493 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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