U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Wants Stricter Rules For Europeans Entering U.S.

Saturday, June 9th 2007, 2:33 pm

By: News On 6

BERLIN (AP) _ U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he wants to tighten travel rules for Europeans entering the United States without visas, news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

``We want to increase our security standard by introducing electronic travel approvals,'' Chertoff said, according to an advance copy of a Spiegel interview to be published Monday.

He said Europeans who are allowed to enter the U.S. under a visa waiver program should register online and fill out a questionnaire 48 hours before they fly to the U.S.

Chertoff said that Islamist terrorists traveling with European passports presented a threat to America that needed to be addressed.

``When we identify areas where we are vulnerable, it becomes obvious that Europeans traveling without visas belong to these areas,'' Chertoff said adding that the United States could not abstain from collecting data because of European concerns.

``In the end Europeans have to realize that we will never leave the decision about who is going to enter our country to another government.''

The current program allows citizens from most Western European countries and some from other parts of the world to enter the country without visas. It excludes many of the newer European Union member states.

The U.S. visa waiver program was created in 1988 and was originally focused on preventing illegal immigration into the country.

But since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the focus has shifted to security, and the program has been altered several times in hopes of strengthening the government's ability to detect and deter terrorists.