According to AlJazeera reports yetserday, the White House announced changes to the U.S. visa waiver program on Monday so that security officials can more closely screen travelers from 38 countries allowed to enter the United States without obtaining visas before they travel.
Under the new measures, which were prompted by the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would immediately start to collect more information from travelers about past visits to countries such as Syria and Iraq, the White House said.
The changes will "enhance our ability to thwart terrorist attempts to travel on lost or stolen passports," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Paris, where President Barack Obama is attending U.N. talks on climate change.
The DHS would also look at pilot programs for collecting biometric information such as fingerprints from visa waiver travelers, the White House said.
The DHS would also ask Congress for additional powers, including the authority to increase fines for air carriers that fail to verify passport data, and the ability to require all travelers to use passports with embedded security chips, the White House said.
The White House also wants to expand the use of a "preclearance program" in foreign airports to allow U.S. border officials to collect and screen biometric information before visa waiver travelers can board airplanes to the United States.
The White House urged Congress to pass legislation before leaving Washington later in December for a holiday recess.
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