WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will require all nations to provide
extensive data to help it vet visa applicants and determine whether a traveler
poses a terrorist threat, according to a cable obtained by Reuters.
Countries
that fail to comply with the new protocols or take steps to do so within 50
days could face travel sanctions.
The cable,
sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts on Wednesday, is a summary of a worldwide
review of vetting procedures that was required under Trump’s revised March 6 executive
order that banned U.S. travel by most citizens from six predominantly Muslim
countries.
The memo
lays out a series of standards the U.S. will require of other countries,
including that they issue, or have active plans to issue, electronic passports
and regularly report lost and stolen passports to INTERPOL.
It also
directs nations to provide "any other identity information" requested
by Washington for U.S. visa applicants, including biometric or biographic
details.
The cable
sets out requirements for countries to provide data on individuals it knows or
has grounds to believe are terrorists as well as criminal record information.
Further,
countries are asked not to block the transfer of information about U.S.-bound
travelers to the U.S. government and not to designate people for travel
watchlists based solely on their political or religious beliefs.
"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
lays out risk factors the U.S. government will consider when evaluating a
country. Some of these are controversial and could be difficult for countries
to prove to U.S. satisfaction, including ensuring "that they are not and
do not have the potential to become a terrorist safe haven."
Countries
are also expected to agree to take back citizens ordered removed from the
United States.
If they do
not provide the information requested, or come up with an adequate plan to do
so, countries could end up on a list to be submitted within 50 days to Trump
for possible sanction, including barring "designated categories" of
their citizens from entering the United States.
The new
requirements are the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration says
it is taking to better protect the United States from terrorist attack.
The most
controversial of these are two executive orders, challenged in federal court,
which impose a temporary ban on travel to the United States for most citizens
from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
While the
orders were initially blocked from being enforced, the Supreme Court on June 26
allowed the ban to go into effect for people from the six nations with no
strong ties to the United States.
The cable
requires countries to act quickly.
"Failure
to provide this information in a timely manner will require us to assume your
country does not meet the standards," the cable said, stressing that the
United States would work with foreign nations to assess if they meet the
standards and, if not, come up with a plan to help them do so.
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
says the U.S. government has made a preliminary determination that some
countries do not meet the new standards and that others are "at risk"
of not meeting them. It does not name these, listing them in a separate,
classified cable.
The State
Department declined comment on the cable, saying it would not discuss internal
communications.
"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.
"We
welcome every opportunity to continue to review and improve our systems and
procedures," the official added.
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