Last week, the shooting in Ottawa that claimed the life of Corporal Nathan Cirillo was called a terrorist attack by Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper. The shooter, Michael Zahef-Bibeau, was radicalized within Canada and had not left the country—in fact his application for a passport was under review at the time of the shooting.
So what does the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which lets individuals from trusted nations travel to the U.S. without a visa, have to do with a homegrown terrorist attack in Canada?
Nothing.
But that is not the impression MSNBC viewers got last week during its show “The Cycle.” One of the hosts of the show asked Center for Strategic and International Studies Senior Fellow Thomas Sanderson about the dangers of Canadian “foreign fighters,” or those who had travelled oversees to join or help terrorist groups. Mr. Sanderson responded by warning of terrorists from Europe using the Visa Waiver Program to come to the U.S. to engage in terrorism.
While foreign fighters coming back to the U.S., Canada, or European countries is certainly a threat, it has little to do with the recent attacks in Canada (or in the U.S.), which have involved individuals who were radicalized at home. It has even less to do with the Visa Waiver Program, since it is a U.S., not Canadian, program and involves foreign attackers, not homegrown extremists.
Importantly, the Visa Waiver Program actually contributes to security rather than harming it. Individuals who seek to visit the U.S. through the VWP still need to go through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization to determine their eligibility to travel to the U.S. Furthermore, at every step along the way, from buying a ticket to landing in the U.S., visitor information is checked against biographic and biometric databases at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
The VWP also increases information sharing between the U.S. and member countries regarding known and suspected terrorists, serious criminals, and lost and stolen passports. Such information sharing improves the U.S.’s ability to find individuals who might pose a threat to the U.S. Together with requirements for increased security at foreign airports and more secure passports, the Visa Waiver Program is a security tool, not a security hole.
The Visa Waiver Program supports security, trade, business, and diplomacy. Recent attacks in the U.S. and Canada are in no way related to the VWP but instead point to the need for continued use of intelligence and information-sharing tools, as well as community outreach and efforts to counter radicalization, to stop terrorists before they strike.