Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, says he will stop money from going to the Chilean Visa Waiver Programme.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., threatens to cut funding for a visa programme that has led to more organised crime from Chilean gangs “raiding” U.S. houses.
Friday, the GOP leader held a press meeting in his home state of California and asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to stop Chile from using the Visa Waiver Programme. McCarthy said that this programme has led to a rise in “burglary tourism,” in which stolen things worth thousands of dollars are sold in China, and the money from these thefts goes back to South America.
McCarthy said that only Chile, out of the 40 countries in the Visa Waiver Programme, does not allow criminal background checks for people travelling to the U.S.
“Now that more than 350,000 Chileans have moved here in the last year from a country with only 19 million people, we’re finding that organised crime is breaking into our homes. They have a lot of knowledge. McCarthy said, “They don’t come and break in through the front door.”
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“They jam cell phones and turn off Wi-Fi so that your home protection doesn’t work. They go to the second floor… They break into the House and steal the safe. They wear suits and clothes that help them hide. Then they work with China to send the money back to South America.”
He thanked Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer for informing lawmakers about the problem and said that Mayorkas ignored it.
“Secretary Mayorkas has not cared about Americans’ safety. If your House has ever been broken into, you lose more than just your stuff. You don’t feel safe anymore,” McCarthy said.
“When we decide how to spend money in the next few weeks, we will include a clause saying that Secretary Mayorkas won’t be able to use money for the visa waiver programme in Chile until this problem is fixed and Americans are safe,” he said.
Fox News Digital tried to get a response from the Department of Homeland Security but did not hear back immediately.
The problem of Chilean crime tourism has made people angry on both sides of the aisle, especially the members of Congress from California. Lou Correa and Mike Levin, both Democrats from California, sent a letter to the Chilean Ambassador last week saying that the Visa Waiver Programme had been abused and cost companies up to $1.2 million.
“It worries us a lot that Chile isn’t sharing information as needed to join the VWP or following the Agreement on Enhancing Cooperation in Preventing and Fighting Serious Crime. We ask that you bring these issues to the attention of the right people in the Chilean government, and we strongly urge you to meet the VWP’s standards so that you can stay in the programme,” they wrote.
“If you don’t take steps to meet these requirements, we are sure that Chile will be suspended from or kicked out of the VWP,” they said.
McCarthy said he didn’t talk to Mayorkas directly about the problem but thought it would come up at his hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee next month.
“I hope he has thought about how to answer this question because both parties want to keep America safe. “If he doesn’t do anything, we will,” the person speaking said.
