Refugees, Migration, Immigration & Integration

The vast majority of visitors to the United States who overstay their visas do so for economic reasons, and Bush administration officials expressed optimism that as non-U.S. economies improve, more countries will become eligible to participate in the visa waiver program (VWP) that allows visits for business or pleasure for up to 90 days without a visa. Richard Barth, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Policy Development, told members of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe May 14 that countries with high rates of visitors to the United States and low rates of rejection on U.S. visa applications are ideal candidates for the program. The State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for visa services, Stephen Edson, told the subcommittee that economic factors are “the primary driver for nonimmigrant visa refusals,” because the rejected candidates are seen as likely to overstay their visa and to try to work illegally in the United States. The current participants are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition, memorandums of understanding have been signed between the United States and the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Malta and the Republic of Korea.

Remarks at hearing by The Honorable Robert Wexler, The Honorable Richard Barth, Mr. Stephen A. Edson

2008: Improved Economies Will Lead to More Visa Waiver Agreements (May 15, 2008) (remarks by The Honorable Robert Wexler, The Honorable Richard Barth, Mr. Stephen A. Edson) | World Population Growth Poses Security Challenges (May 5, 2008)

2007: U.S. Mission's Murray Discusses the U.S.-European Security Relationship (Sep 20, 2007)

The United States and Europe are going through significant debates about immigration and integration right now, so “there is a lot we can learn from each other,” says Mehdi Alhassani, 22, an American Muslim from Boston. “Europe is a very critical fault line of the East and West,” he said. “If you look at how fast [immigration is] growing in Europe, it’s essential that we get this right.” Alhassani, the son of Iraqi immigrants, is one of four Muslim-American community leaders who embarked June 17, 2006, for Europe to meet with hundreds of European Muslims in Berlin, The Hague, Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of the Citizen Dialogue program of the U.S. State Department. The five-day program is an effort to mobilize and amplify the voices of U.S. Muslims and Arab Americans, to encourage a cross-cultural dialogue and to advance diplomacy, according to Heidi Fincken, special adviser to Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes.

2006: American Muslims To Visit Europe in New Citizen Dialogue Project (Jun 16, 2006) | United States Contributes $203.8 Million to U.N. Refugee Agency (Feb 9, 2006) | In State of the Union Speech, Bush Urges U.S. Global Engagement (Jan 31, 2006) | U.S. Hails International Partnership in Migration Management (Jan 25, 2006)

2005: U.S.-EU Delegation to Examine Plight of Liberian Refugees (Feb 18, 2005) | Declaration on Refugee Returns in the Balkans Welcomed (Feb 1, 2005)

2004: United States, EU Discuss Border, Transport Security (Nov 23, 2004)