Threat of Foreign ISIS Fighters on NATO Summit Agenda, Says WH Official - East Idaho News
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Threat of Foreign ISIS Fighters on NATO Summit Agenda, Says WH Official

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121212 PresidentObama?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409694858149Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — President Obama will likely discuss the threat of foreign fighters—and their travel in and out of country—with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the upcoming NATO summit in Wales, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
 
“I would anticipate that these kinds of discussions will be on the agenda,” he said.
 
Later this month, the president is expected to convene a UN Security Council meeting when the General Assembly gathers for a meeting in New York, and will “lead a discussion” about “the threat that’s posed by foreign fighters,” Earnest said.
 
After Cameron announced emergency powers to seize passports and bar-reentry of U.K. citizens suspected of fighting (or going to fight) for ISIS, Earnest would not say whether Obama is contemplating  changes to U.S. visa-waiver policies, which allow residents of some countries to enter the U.S. and stay for months without a visa, in light of ISIS’s heavy recruitment of foreign fighters.
 
Earnest referenced the occasional “tweaking [of] those policies and procedures in ways that sometimes aren’t visible to the traveling public” and said, “There are professionals on the front lines making these kinds of decisions on a regular basis” to ensure that policies already in place are being used to protect the American public.
 
The threat of foreign fighters has been on the White House’s radar for “months,” Earnest said.
 
“Over the last several months, this is an issue that the White House has been very focused on,” Earnest said.


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