You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Spending Bill Features Spying Expansion, Visa Restrictions

HeadlineDec 21, 2015

Privacy advocates have objected to the spending bill’s quiet inclusion of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, a measure they say will expand mass surveillance under the guise of cybersecurity. Among other provisions are new restrictions on the Visa Waiver Program, which could force Europeans and others deemed to be nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan –- or people who have visited those countries since 2011 — to obtain a visa before entering the United States. Since the move is likely to trigger reciprocal restrictions from other countries, including in Europe, critics warn Iranian Americans could now be treated as “second-class citizens” when traveling abroad.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top