In response to the San Bernardino Attack that claimed the lives of 14 innocent souls, the US House of Representatives has just adopted HR158 that has some very troubling provisions also being debated in the US Senate. There has been a concerted grass roots effort as epitomized by this received at our World Headquarters--We will continue to monitor this over the ensuing days.
Urge Pres. Obama & Congress to put a time limit on the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver bill.
On December 8, the House voted for a bill to tighten the Visa Waiver Program that lets people from certain countries travel to the U.S. without first obtaining a visa.Mike Honda, Barbara Lee, John Conyers, Jan Schakowsky, Raul Grijalva, and Keith Ellison were among the Democrats who voted against the bill, [1] citing discriminatory and overbroad provisions of the bill, and the lack of a time limit on these provisions.
Urge President Obama and Congress to "sunset" the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver reform bill by signing our petition at MoveOn:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Rep. Honda said he voted against this bill because it "unjustly targets individuals based on their nationality" and that he could not "vote for a bill that categorically bars access to the Visa Waiver Program for dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Iran and people who have traveled in the last 5 years to Iraq and Syria, including humanitarian workers…Under this bill, a French citizen of Syrian descent who has never been to Syria would still fall into this blanket category.” [2]
Rep. Lee said she shares “the concerns of the ACLU, AILA, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and others that this bill would allow for the discrimination of individuals based on their nationality." [3]
Rep. Conyers said, "I believe the provisions in the legislation restricting the use of the visa waiver program to individuals who have travelled to Syria or Iraq or are dual nationals of these or other covered nations – are discriminatory…I also believe the provision should have included a sunset date so we can assess its efficacy." [4]
Like Rep. Conyers, the ACLU has called for the discriminatory provisions of the legislation to have a sunset provision [5], meaning that they would expire and have to be reconsidered and reauthorized to remain in force - just like the Patriot Act, passed after the September 11 attacks, had a sunset provision so it would have to be reconsidered. Likewise, every major Democratic proposal for an authorization for the use of force against ISIS, including President Obama's proposal [6], has a sunset provision, so that it could not continue indefinitely without Congress having to reconsider it.
It is very likely that some version of the bill will be included in the omnibus spending package expected to be passed by December 18. Urge President Obama and Congress to sunset the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver reform bill by signing and sharing our petition:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Thanks for all you do to help U.S. foreign policy become more just,
Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns and Avram Reisman
Urge Pres. Obama & Congress to put a time limit on the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver bill.
Take Action
Urge President Obama and Congress to "sunset" the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver reform bill by signing our petition at MoveOn:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Rep. Honda said he voted against this bill because it "unjustly targets individuals based on their nationality" and that he could not "vote for a bill that categorically bars access to the Visa Waiver Program for dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Iran and people who have traveled in the last 5 years to Iraq and Syria, including humanitarian workers…Under this bill, a French citizen of Syrian descent who has never been to Syria would still fall into this blanket category.” [2]
Rep. Lee said she shares “the concerns of the ACLU, AILA, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and others that this bill would allow for the discrimination of individuals based on their nationality." [3]
Rep. Conyers said, "I believe the provisions in the legislation restricting the use of the visa waiver program to individuals who have travelled to Syria or Iraq or are dual nationals of these or other covered nations – are discriminatory…I also believe the provision should have included a sunset date so we can assess its efficacy." [4]
Like Rep. Conyers, the ACLU has called for the discriminatory provisions of the legislation to have a sunset provision [5], meaning that they would expire and have to be reconsidered and reauthorized to remain in force - just like the Patriot Act, passed after the September 11 attacks, had a sunset provision so it would have to be reconsidered. Likewise, every major Democratic proposal for an authorization for the use of force against ISIS, including President Obama's proposal [6], has a sunset provision, so that it could not continue indefinitely without Congress having to reconsider it.
It is very likely that some version of the bill will be included in the omnibus spending package expected to be passed by December 18. Urge President Obama and Congress to sunset the discriminatory provisions of the visa waiver reform bill by signing and sharing our petition:
http://www.justforeignpolicy.
Thanks for all you do to help U.S. foreign policy become more just,
Robert Naiman, Sarah Burns and Avram Reisman
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