Monday, October 8, 2001
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Monitoring of Foreign Students' Status Draws Increasing Attention From Lawmakers and College GroupsBy DAN CURRY
Sen. Dianne Feinstein backed away Friday from her call to suspend foreign-student visas for six months, saying that a moratorium would not be needed if educators worked with Immigration and Naturalization Service officials to better monitor the status of foreign students at their institutions. While higher-education groups applauded her announcement, they noted that attention was already turning to broader legislative efforts initiated last week. Senator Feinstein, a California Democrat, called for the moratorium last month after it was reported that one of the suspected hijackers in the September 11 terrorist attacks had entered the United States using a student visa. The suspect, Hani Hanjour, never showed up for classes at an English-as-a-second-language program in Oakland, Calif., owned by Berlitz International. Senator Feinstein envisioned the moratorium as lasting for six months, enough time for the INS to put in place a foreign-student tracking system that would make readily accessible to law-enforcement officials the names, residences, and educational status of foreign students. But higher-education groups immediately objected that the moratorium was unnecessarily restrictive and would impose costs on institutions and students and greatly disrupt research programs and academic life. Last week, representatives of California universities and higher-education groups voiced these concerns at a meeting with Ms. Feinstein. The senator told them that a suspension would not be required if they could reassure her that they and the INS could find a way to reduce the security risk posed by foreign students living in the United States, Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the University of California's Washington office, said Friday. That same day, the American Council on Education delivered a letter to Senator Feinstein, signed by 18 higher-education groups, that proposed new duties for universities and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Among the proposals were requirements for colleges and universities to inform the INS within 30 days of the start of an academic term about the failure of any foreign student to appear for classes, and for the INS to notify colleges when a foreign student entered the country using forms endorsed by those institutions. Ms. Feinstein's office is reviewing the letter, said Howard Gantman, the senator's director of communications. The senator will hold a hearing on visa issues on Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, which she heads. Higher-education groups reaffirmed their support for the INS's computerized monitoring system last week, as long as the federal government committed funds to its operation. Senator Feinstein's proposal would provide $32.3-million to finance the INS database. The database is expected to be ready to use nationwide by 2003, and now operates on some campuses on an experimental basis. The system is financed by a one-time $95 fee paid by foreign students who want to attend American universities. In the 1999-2000 academic year, American colleges drew 514,723 foreign students, according to the Institute of International Education. Before the September 11 attacks, higher-education groups had criticized the database on grounds that it would be burdensome for institutions, and would discourage students from coming to the United States by singling them out for extra surveillance and then charging them for it. They supported legislation introduced this year to dismantle the tracking system altogether. After the attacks, however, even the most vocal opponent of the database, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, joined in supporting it. But higher-education groups have begun to point out that systemwide changes in the visa-granting process are needed to combat terrorism. Foreign students make up a small percentage of the total number of visas granted each year, and they generally have a greater stake in coming to the United States than other immigrants do, said Becky Timmons, the ACE's director of government relations. "There's been a false impression in the press that about the risk posed by student visas," said Ms. Timmons, who noted that a recent Washington Post article had reported that, contrary to earlier suggestions, none of the suspected terrorists used student visas to enter the United States. "There is a much bigger problem here that can only be dealt with by tightening up the whole visa awarding and monitoring process." Meanwhile, higher-education groups are looking with interest at legislative efforts that advanced in the Senate and the House of Representatives last week. Sen. Christopher S. Bond, a Missouri Republican, introduced a bill that seeks to use background checks, a nationwide computer tracking system, and tighter monitoring of student visas to better guard against terrorist threats. Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, a Republican from Maine, are cosponsors. Senator Bond says his proposals specifically deal with loopholes in the visa system exploited by the suspected hijackers in the September 11 attacks. He will seek about $500-million in funds to carry out his plan, an aide in his office said. Some of that money could go to financing the INS's student-tracking database. How much money goes to the system will be one criterion the ACE will need to know before it endorses the bill, Ms. Timmons said. But the legislation "looked promising," she said, and the council's president, David Ward, suggested that Ms. Feinstein and Mr. Bond should explore combining their legislation. In its letter to Senator Feinstein, the council expressed its support for developing tamper-proof visas, increasing information-sharing among federal agencies, and establishing a 30-day wait for any visas granted to individuals from nations suspected of sponsoring terrorism -- all facets of Senator Bond's bill. No versions yet exist of the Feinstein or Bond proposals in the House of Representatives. But last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved an antiterrorism bill sponsored by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican, that includes an amendment that would move up the date by which the INS's tracking system must operate nationally. The amendment, introduced by Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, a New York Democrat, would require the tracking system to be in operation by next year, instead of 2003. It also authorizes the attorney general to increase the fee paid by students to get the system working sooner. The bill now goes to the House floor, where lawmakers say its passage is likely. Education lobbyists oppose Representative Weiner's amendment because it could lead to higher fees for students.
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Copyright © 2001 by The Chronicle of Higher Education