State Department Reverses Decision on Visa Security Help

I’ve been asking a lot of questions to the Departments of State and Homeland Security about their visa issuance policies.  This effort has become even more urgent given the recent failure to stop the Christmas Day bomber from boarding a flight to the United States with a bomb strapped to him despite early warnings about his involvement with al Qaeda.  As a result of my oversight, I’ve learned that eight years after Congress established Visa Security Units to assist the State Department in screening visa applicants for security concerns, these units were only in 14 of more than 220 State Department posts around the world. 

After questioning the Department of Homeland Security about applications for high risk posts sitting on desks waiting to be approved, I recently learned that the State Department denied permission to establish extra visa screening assistance from the Department of Homeland Security for its post in Jerusalem, Israel. 

Congress gave clear authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to station onsite personnel at every State Department post to strengthen the visa issuance process.  The State Department’s action undermined the intent of the law and it should not have veto power on this critical security issue.

So, I wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking why the State Department denied the Visa Security Unit in Jerusalem and asking her to reverse the misguided decision.  It appeared to me to be a simple power play by the State Department that the American people will not stand for.

The State Department reversed its position today and visa security personnel from the Department of Homeland Security will be part of the visa screening process in Jerusalem.  This is a necessary reversal of a poor decision and helps shore up one of America’s first lines of defense against foreign terrorist attacks.