[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5042-H5043]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONCERNS OVER WAIVER PROCESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Bera) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BERA. Mr. Speaker, this Wednesday, June 26, marks the 1-year 
anniversary of the Supreme Court upholding President Trump's travel ban 
which suspended the issuance of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to 
applicants from five Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, 
Syria, and Yemen; plus Venezuela and North Korea.
  In upholding the travel ban, the court indicated that by including 
North Korea and Venezuela, the administration was not targeting only 
Muslim countries. In addition, the administration was creating a 
mechanism by which foreign nationals from those banned countries could 
be issued a waiver to enter the United States if: one, the applicant 
did not represent a security threat with their entry; or, two, if 
denying entry would cause undue hardship.
  One year later, we can evaluate whether the Trump administration has 
honored the court ruling.
  Mr. Speaker, from my experience with my constituents in Sacramento 
County, the resounding answer is ``no.'' In my district, a young girl 
named Omnia, who was born in Libya to an American mother and a Libyan 
father, was separated from her family for 2 years because of the travel 
ban.
  Her mother, an American citizen, took Omnia, who was then 2 years 
old, to the immigrant visa interview at the Embassy in Tunis, where the 
interview was only minutes long with no questions. Instead, the 
consular officer said the Embassy had all of the documents and 
everything was in order, but they could not issue the visa for the 2-
year-old. The consular officer told the mother, who was 7 months 
pregnant at the time, to go back to the U.S. and have her baby, and 
then come back when the travel ban was over.
  The consular office did not reference the undue hardship exception 
which was stipulated in the visa waiver process. I don't believe this 
2-year-old was a security risk and separating a 2-year-old from their 
mother clearly causes undue hardship, so I am not sure what that 
process was.
  There is also the disturbing case last year of a Yemeni mother who 
fought to obtain a visa waiver to travel to California to see her 
terminally ill son. It was only after widespread media coverage that 
she was finally granted a visa waiver to visit the United States to see 
her son just days before he passed away.
  This story takes place over and over again in districts all across 
this country. Thus, I have serious concerns about the waiver process, 
how it is being implemented unevenly and with little guidance, and that 
waivers granted are not leading to the issuance of visas for cleared 
individuals.

                              {time}  1215

  My concern is further heightened due to the cases of constituents in 
my district and across the country who are being negatively impacted by 
confusing and uneven processes.
  Now, in my role as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I am aiming to 
shed light on how the visa waiver process is being implemented. We have 
asked--and the

[[Page H5043]]

State Department has not provided information to us that we have 
requested--about how to gain a waiver, what is the process, and what is 
the yes/no here.
  I think I know why. It is because there isn't one, as countless 
examples and stories have shown.
  We have got to continue to shine a spotlight on the millions of 
Americans whose lives have been thrown into chaos due to the 
President's reckless and ill thought-through process. I, as an 
American, am going to continue to fight on their behalf.

                          ____________________