The TSA, which operates under a strict set of guidelines that ban the entry of any foreign national who is deemed a security risk, has issued an extreme vetting policy for those traveling abroad for six months starting next month.
It will be extended until January 2018, and for those arriving after that, it will be for a year.
But the TSA has not released any details about how or when those travelers will be able to return to the United States, despite having issued the policy two years ago.
The rules are intended to curb a rash of terrorism-related incidents across the country, and are in response to a series of terror attacks that took place over the past several months.
They were initially adopted in 2012, when the Obama administration instituted a new travel ban that banned visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United State for 90 days.
They also expanded a temporary ban that was imposed in October that temporarily banned people from Iran and Iraq from traveling to the U.S. For the first time, the TSA issued an expanded travel ban for non-immigrant visa holders entering the country from six countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The expanded travel bans were designed to stop potential extremists from entering and plotting attacks.
They have since been extended and extended again, and were extended again again in February.
Since that time, there have been at least 17 attacks in the U,S.
The DHS has reported at least 1,853 acts of terror across the U., according to the DHS Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
While the administration’s new restrictions do not apply to international travelers, it does appear that the expanded restrictions will apply to those traveling to or from the U..
“The first rule of extreme vetting is to be very careful, very, very careful,” White House counterterrorism adviser Peter Cook told reporters.
“The second rule of being very careful is to take your own security very seriously.
And we’ve been very, you know, very aggressive in enforcing the first rule.
The second rule is to put your security at the forefront.”
In a press conference Friday afternoon, Cook also noted that he had seen no evidence of any increase in terrorist plots since the original restrictions were implemented in 2012.
“I’ve never seen anything that’s caused a more surge in plots than we’ve seen in this six-month period,” Cook said.
“And I would say it’s been pretty quiet, but it’s very, really quiet.”
The Department of Homeland Security has been in the middle of a vetting process for the new restrictions since they were first announced, and said in a statement that they were “in response to the terrorist threat we face and to ensure our homeland remains safe.”
According to Cook, the changes will result in “a more transparent process for visa applicants, and we will be monitoring the process closely for any unexpected changes.”
“The president believes this policy will help prevent attacks from occurring in the United the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Spain and other European countries,” Cook continued.
“We’ve been working with the international community to ensure we can continue to be effective, and this policy is a key part of that.”
The new restrictions are being implemented by DHS Secretary John Kelly, who has repeatedly stated that the administration was not trying to take away people’s freedoms.
He said at the White House Press Conference Friday that the changes are necessary to protect Americans and to protect the nation.
“I think there’s going to be no way that we’re going to have an attack that doesn’t happen on the homeland,” Kelly said.
The administration has also faced criticism for not fully explaining the changes, and not doing enough to implement them, including for those who had already been issued a visa.
The Department has faced backlash for not releasing details about the new rules, even though it was issued two years after the first one was issued.
In March, the Associated Press reported that it had obtained documents that showed that more than two million people were denied a visa or a green card under the new policy.
The new policy is being implemented as part of the Department of Defense’s new vetting process, which was implemented in February, and was initially announced in November 2016.
A Department of Labor official told the AP that the department’s vetting process will continue, and will only affect non-military, non-government contractors.
However, the White Senate is now reviewing whether or not to continue the policy, and the Department is currently reviewing whether to lift it.
This story has been updated to include the DHS official’s statement.
