Since 1986, the United States has been granting visa waivers to citizens of countries it sees as trusted allies. Someone from France or Spain can, relatively easily, use a passport and visit for up to 90 days. There are 38 countries whose citizens do not require visas to enter the United States.
But one key ally has been wait listed: Poland. And the Polish community is asking, “Why not us?”
Polish-Americans are the largest Slavic ethnic group in the U.S., numbering around ten million. If you talk to one of them on the street in Chicago or New Britain, there’s one issue that undoubtedly comes up: the visa restriction.
"Not only is it a stupid law, but it’s one that is very insulting to poles," said M.B. Biskupski, head of the Polish Studies Program at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain -- a city with its own Little Poland neighborhood. "It suggests that they are less worthy than other immigrants coming to the US," he said, "which is a slap in the face."
The rules haven’t changed for Poland even as it established a democracy, and became a member of the European Union and NATO. It’s the only Central European country not accepted into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
And it’s not just Polish-Americans who are annoyed. Polish citizens don’t want to pay $160 to wait in lines, when they may not even be accepted into the country.
Mateusz St?siek, Deputy Consul General of Poland, said he has friends in Poland who want to come to the United States to go shopping, " but it’s no use applying for a visa, it’s a lengthy process, it costs a lot." His friends end up going to London instead.
Connecticut immigration lawyer Dana Bucin works with foreign investors. Recently, she arranged a trip for representatives of three hundred Polish businesses to come to Connecticut.
"Some of them weren’t able to make it. Others were delayed, and virtually all of them were upset that they were subjected to the visa requirement for coming here to create business opportunities for Connecticut companies," Bucin said.
Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley has been working for seven years to get Poland accepted in the Visa Waiver Program. He co-sponsored the JOLT Act, or Jobs Originated through Launching Travel. He's got the support of both Democrats and Republicans.
"So why hasn't it gotten done?" Quigley said. "Unfortunately, the farthest right is still under the impression that this is, I don't know, their fathers Visa Waiver Program. They don't recognize that there’s greater security working with countries with the Visa Waiver Program."
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security added strict new rules for countries in the program, including requiring travelers to carry passports with electronic chips -- and expanding the use of air marshals on flights.
"I think it’s important not to politicize the Visa Waiver Program, use it as a way to give out political favors to allies," said Jessica Vaughn from the Center for Immigration Studies.
Vaughn worries that if Poles are able to enter without visas, many would stay longer than 90 days. Vaughn pointed out that Polish citizens have high “refusal rates” -- the number of people who apply for a visa and get rejected for reasons like not having a stable job, or staying too long on a past visa.
"Congress should not expand the Visa Waiver Program until we have more adequate enforcement in place and until visitors from Poland are demonstrating much better visa compliance than they have in the past," Vaughn said.
The Office of Homeland Security said it’s impossible to count just how many Poles are here illegally, and they don’t keep track of visa overstays by country.
Although his bill has 200 bipartisan cosponsors in the house, Congressman Quigley has tempered enthusiasm. He’d like this to be the year for Poland --- but anyone who can predict what happens in the Senate, he said, is “deluding themselves.”
