President Donald Trump's administration has revoked permission for Romania in the Visa Waiver Program due to national security and other concerns, Breitbart reported. Then-President Joe Biden added the nation on his way out of office.
The program allows foreign nationals from certain friendly countries admission into the U.S. for up to 90 days without securing a visa. The nations allowed in the program must have fewer than 3% of admitted individuals overstay their visits in the U.S. annually.
Biden added Romania to the program in January as he was leaving office. It was supposed to go into effect in March, but was under review.
Romania's overstay rate was 2.61% in 2024, down from 9% in 2023, 13% in 2022, and 17% in 2021. The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security officially announced the revocation of Romania's permission on Friday.
The VWP has become another system to exploit for criminals from the nations admitted to the program, including European nations. Even the 9/11 Commission Staff Report noted the potential for abuse and advised against its continuation.
Gangs of robbers from foreign countries have gamed the system to steal from wealthy Americans without worrying about obtaining visas to get into the U.S. Despite these known problems, the number of nations included has increased under just about every U.S. president since 1986.
However, the problem for Romania goes beyond the run-of-the-mill issues of other unchecked visitors. The Trump administration pointed to Romania's recent presidential election debacle.
"The Administration notes with increasing concern the recent developments across Europe of democratic backsliding. Efforts to suppress the will of the people draw into question the strength of our shared values," a senior White House official said.
"Healthy democracies do not fear opposing perspectives. Concerted efforts to delegitimize certain political perspectives draw a striking resemblance to the American experience that President Trump faced, including lawfare and censorship," the unnamed official added.
According to Fox News, Romania's election authority canceled the results of the country's presidential election due to concerns about Russian interference in the election. In this month's do-over, the authority completely shut out frontrunner Calin Georgescu.
"A direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide! I have one message left! If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall!" Georgescu warned in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on March 9. "This is just the beginning. It’s that simple! Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!"
A direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide! I have one message left! If democracy in Romania falls, the entire democratic world will fall! This is just the beginning. It’s that simple!
Europe is now a dictatorship, Romania is under tyranny!
— Călin Georgescu OFFICIAL ACCOUNT (@CG_Romania) March 9, 2025
Vice President J.D. Vance echoed the warning. The vice president said "it looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election."
The visa program has its own pitfalls, and Trump was certainly correct in limiting the nations that are allowed to participate. However, the injustice in the nation's elections presents another dimension to kick them out of the program, full stop.
