Anaheim, CA –U.S. Representatives Young Kim (CA-40), Lou Correa (CA-46), and Mike Levin (CA-49) from Orange County sent a letter today to Biden administration officials on the lack of enforcement of vetting requirements Chilean nationals seeking entry into the U.S. through the Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
Orange County families and businesses have faced rising burglaries and crimes leading to an increase in arrests of Chilean nationals who entered the U.S. with criminal records and are members of South American Theft Groups.
Read the letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines HERE or see highlights below.
We write to you to express our disappointment with the lack of enforcement of passenger vetting requirements for Chilean nationals seeking entry into the U.S. through the Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Chile is currently the only South American country participating in the program. Countries that participate in the VWP must execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. in which they agree to share background information of applicants, including warrants and criminal histories. The Chilean government has failed to meet these requirements and properly vet individuals coming to the U.S., especially given the steep rise in commercial and residential burglaries and increase in arrests of Chilean nationals who are members of South American Theft Groups in Orange County, CA1. South American Theft Groups are elaborate operations in the U.S. that burglarize homes and engage in organized retail crime. SATGs sell stolen goods online and launder money through Chinese crime syndicates. We believe that these activities pose a direct threat to our national security.
The statute authorizing the VWP allows for the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate a country or area of concern, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence. Such designation would affect a country’s eligibility for participation in the VWP. Given the immediate threat to public safety posed by Chilean members of SATGs traveling freely into the United States, we urge you to immediately consider this designation and communicate with Chilean authorities that noncompliance with passenger vetting requirements will result in Chile’s termination from the VWP. We request a written response from you by July 1, 2023, and that you also send your response to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
