Strong Visa Integrity Secures America Act
Latest action. Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Homeland Security. H. Rept. 115-273, Part I.
Strong Visa Integrity Secures America Act
This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assign, in a risk-based manner, DHS employees to at least 50 visa-issuing diplomatic and consular posts based upon the following criteria:
the number of nationals of a country in which such posts are located who were identified in U.S. terrorist databases,
such a country's counterterrorism cooperation with the United States,
the adequacy of border and immigration control of such country,
terrorist organization activity in such country, and
the number of negative security advisory opinions regarding nationals of such country.
Such employees shall, in addition to other duties, screen admissions applications against federal criminal, national security, and terrorism databases.
DHS shall:
establish within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a visa security advisory opinion unit to respond to Department of State requests for visa security reviews; and
provide, in a risk-based manner, for remote pre-adjudicated visa security assistance at at least 50 posts that are not assigned such employees.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shall:
screen electronic passports at U.S. entry airports by reading each passport's embedded chip, and
utilize facial recognition or other biometric technology to screen travelers at such airports.
Electronic passport screening shall apply to U.S. citizens, nationals of a visa waiver program country, and nationals of any other foreign country that issues electronic passports.
Facial recognition or other biometric technology shall apply to nationals of a visa waiver program country.
CBP shall, in a risk-based manner, continuously screen individuals issued any visa and individuals who are visa waiver program nationals against criminal, national security, and terrorism databases.
The annual visa overstay report is revised.
DHS shall (1) ensure that certain foreign student information is available at each U.S. port of entry to CBP officers, (2) review the social media accounts of certain visa applicants who are citizens or residents of high-risk countries, and (3) review open-source information of visa applicants.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House amended, Part I" stage on August 8, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 8, 2017: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Homeland Security. H. Rept. 115-273, Part I.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Will Hurd (R-TX) introduced it on May 24, 2017, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 24, 2017, 3396 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3320 days ago, on August 8, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers