US: All countries need to provide more traveler data or face travel sanctions
The U.S. State Department sent out a cable that said it will require all countries toprovide more data to help vet their visa applicants and determine whether or not a traveler could pose a terrorist threat, according to Reuters.
Countries that don’t comply with the new protocols within 50 days or at least take steps to do so, were warned that they could face travel sanctions.
The cable was sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts on Wednesday and summarizes a global review of the vetting procedures that was required under the March 6 executive order from Donald Trump that temporarily banned U.S. travel by most citizens from six Muslim-majority countries.
The memo gives a series of standards that the U.S. will require from other countries, including that they issue, or have plans to begin, electronic passports, and regularly report lost and stolen passport data to INTERPOL.
“This is the first time that the U.S. Government is setting standards for the information that is required from all countries specifically in support of immigration and traveler vetting,” the cable said.
The cable also tells nations to provide “any other identity information” requested by Washington for visa applicants, including biometric and biographical data, criminal records, and if they have terrorist associations.
Countries are also required to not block any transfer of information about U.S.-bound travelers to the U.S. government and to not designate people for travel watchlists based on their political or religious beliefs.
The Trump administration says that the steps are to help protect the United States against a terrorist attack, but former officials said many of the information requests are already routinely shared between countries.
Some U.S. allies may also worry about data privacy protections if Washington increases their demands.
“I don’t think you can ignore the political aspects of the unpopularity of the current administration. That puts political pressure to stand up to the administration,” said John Sandweg, a former senior Homeland Security Department official now with the firm Frontier Solutions.
The cable lays out risk factors for evaluating a country, but some of the specifics are murky for how countries could prove things to U.S. satisfaction, including making sure “that they are not and do not have the potential to become a terrorist safe haven.”
Countries are also expected to agree to assume custody of citizens ordered removed from the U.S.
If the countries refuse to provide information or don’t come up with a plan to do so, they could end up on a list submitted for possible sanctions from Trump, including banning “categories” of their citizens from coming into the United States.
“Once they start making decisions I think that is where there is going to be a lot of anxiety,” said Leon Rodriguez, the former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, since delays in vias processing don’t pose much of a threat could begin to hurt recreational and business travel plans.
The cable requires that the countries act quickly, but said that the U.S. would help work with foreign ministries to see if they meet the standards or how to devise a plan to move forward.
The cable asks that U.S. diplomats “underscore that while it is not our goal to impose a ban on immigration benefits, including visas, for citizens of any country, these standards are designed to mitigate risk, and failure to make progress could lead to security measures by the USG, including a presidential proclamation that would prohibit the entry of certain categories of foreign nationals of non-compliant countries.”
The cable also said that certain countries already don’t meed the standards and others are “at risk” of not meeting them, but it doesn’t name those in the public document, only in a separate classified cable.
“The U.S. government’s national security screening and vetting procedures for visitors are constantly reviewed and refined to improve security and more effectively identify individuals who could pose a threat to the United States,” said a U.S. State Department official on condition of anonymity.
–WN.com, Maureen Foody
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