The US Congress struck a sprawlingspending deal overnight that included a measure tightening the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) by excluding certain travelers deemed by Washington to be a risk, AFP reports.
Republican and Democratic negotiators included the measure in a catch-all spending package agreed to late Tuesday and unveiled in the dead of night that sets federal expenditures at $1.149 billion through September 30, 2016, the end of the fiscal year.
The text, which is expected to be voted on within days, includes legislation adopted by the House of Representatives last week which excludes
citizens from VWP countries who are also dual nationals from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan. It would also exclude anyone from the 38 participating nations, mainly in Europe and largely US allies and stable democracies, who has traveled to those four countries, or to a country Washington has listed as supporting terrorism, since March 2011.