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U.S. looks to boost checks on non-visa air passengers
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities are considering tougher airline security measures for passengers entering the United States from a group of nations whose citizens do not need visas, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said Sunday. Appearing on CNN's "Late Edition", Ridge said authorities may add "enhanced security measures" for arriving passengers who are citizens of the 27 visa waiver countries, which includes many Western European countries. The measures under consideration, he said, include "subjecting these individuals and their baggage to far more rigorous screening than ever before." "We're going to have an entry-exit system based on a machine-readable passport, so we'll be able to verify and validate they are who they claim to be," Ridge said. Ridge stressed that passengers from the visa-waiver countries still will not be required to obtain U.S. entry visas. "The countries that have, over the years, been involved in the visa waiver program have historically been allies, have been great friends and supporters of ours. And obviously it's in our best interest to try to bring as many people into this country for a lot of different reasons. "Our economy depends on it. A lot of them go to school here. We basically have helped educate leaders, future leaders because of their availability of education and exposure in this country." Two U.S. air transit programs suspendedOn Saturday, the United States suspended two programs that allow some international air passengers to transit through the country without a visa. The suspensions of the transit-without-visa program and the international-to-international transit program are immediate but will not affect U.S. citizens or nationals of the 27 visa waiver countries. (Full story) But Ridge acknowledged that such measures alone would not have stopped French citizen Zacarias Moussaoui, who prosecutors say was the "20th hijacker" in the 9/11 attacks, and Richard Reid, a British citizen convicted of trying to destroy an airliner with explosives in his shoes. A Homeland Security Department official says additional Customs and Border Protection inspectors are being deployed to the nation's airports to ease any problems, and the State Department will be working to process the visas quickly. Exceptions will be made for people who are now traveling or who have tickets to travel soon. The change was made in response to recent intelligence indicating that potential hijackers might be looking to exploit the programs, which allow transit passengers to stay on the ground in the United States without a visa for as long as 24 hours. In the past, immigrant smugglers have exploited security weaknesses around such passengers. Last weekend, the Department of Homeland Security sent out a one-page advisory to airlines warning that terrorists might be plotting suicide hijackings during the summer, with possible targets including sites in the United States and other countries. (Full story) "Attack venues may include the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia or the East Coast of the United States due to the relatively high concentration of government, military and economic targets," the advisory said. Britain, Italy and Australia are U.S. allies in the war in Iraq. On Wednesday, a government source told CNN that a high-level al Qaeda operative was one of the sources of information leading to the warning. (Full story) Bush: 'We're focusing on the airline industry'In his first White House news conference in four months, President Bush said Wednesday he is confident U.S. authorities would foil any possible suicide hijacking attempts. (Full story) Bush's comments followed a Washington Post report suggesting the Transportation Security Administration, facing a $900 million budget shortfall, was planning to shift funding from the air marshals program, a move that would postpone advance training for the marshals and some new hiring. After initially downplaying the report, administration officials late Wednesday acknowledged there were schedule changes last week to the air marshals program due to budget cuts. The officials said they don't yet know if any high-risk flights were affected and added there was no official policy guidance calling for the changes. Senate Democrats responded with outrage to the prospect of any such cuts. "Cuts in air marshals should not happen now and it should not happen ever, not until we know that the war on terrorism has clearly been won," said Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. "They're cutting into the bone ... when they don't have enough money to fund air marshals, which was one of the things we talked about the most right after 9/11 as a way of preventing another 9/11 from happening," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. CNN correspondents Kelli Arena and Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report.
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