Washington, DC – U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) today announced that they will introduce the Equal Protection in Travel Act.
The bill is a commonsense fix to the dual national provision in the recently approved omnibus spending bill that prohibits dual nationals of countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan from participating in the Visa Waiver Program, regardless of their travel history. The proposed bipartisan legislation would allow those dual nationals to participate in the visa waiver program and would not alter the travel ban for those who have actually travelled to specified countries.
“The safety and security of the American people depends on our ability to focus on true threats,” Booker said. “The overly-broad changes made to the Visa Waiver Program in December’s funding bill jeopardize U.S. relations with key allies, send the wrong message to those fleeing violence in the Middle East, and do not make America safer. This legislation will ensure the security of the Visa Waiver Program without unfairly targeting innocent people.”
“We should not be denying an individual’s access to the visa waiver program based solely on their nationality. We should be more concerned with recent travel history,” said Flake. “By introducing this bipartisan legislation, we are ensuring that the focus remains on those who should receive a higher level of scrutiny.”
"This bill will help correct the most serious problem with a bill that was rushed through the House in the wake of the horrific terror attacks in Paris. The Visa Waiver Program should be reformed, but singling people out because of their national origin is fundamentally at odds with American values and invites discrimination against American citizens who are dual nationals. Our focus should be on people with possible links to terrorism, regardless of their nationality," said Durbin
Background: In Dec. 2015, Flake, Durbin and U.S. Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter to congressional leadership urging that the dual national provision not be included in the omnibus spending bill.