US visa restrictions to ease if ID security increases

This systems would enable US immigration and security officials to perform quick and easy identity checks on people seeking to fly to the US and allay security concerns. The US would have to be notified of any lost or forged passports, and all visitors would require biometric passports. The plan is likely to hit opposition in Brussels, however, as it has in the past vehemently opposed US plans to force airlines to provide personal data on their passengers, fearing possibilities of misuse. But, says James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, such fears are not justified. "We have put down the conditions and it is now up to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to respond to them," a US immigration official told Gazeta Wyborcza.(Gazeta Wyborcza, p.1) R.M.