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Fortunately for international students hoping to enter American
schools, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has abandoned her plan
for a six-month moratorium on student visas.
But current and prospective international students
shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet ““ she plans
to have them electronically tracked by government agencies and has
asked President George W. Bush to allocate $32.2 million in
emergency funds to do it.
This electronic tracking plan was in the works long before Sept.
11 as a result of the 1996 Immigration Reform and Responsibility
Act. The computer database is supposed to be operational by 2003.
But since two of the terrorists were in the United States on
student visas, Feinstein thinks the “threat” of
terrorists manipulating the student visa system merits immediate,
emergency-level scrutiny. Feinstein hopes the federal funds will
fast track the system’s implementation.
However, this is a rash reaction to the widespread fear of
terrorism.
True, the fact that two of the hijackers were here on student
visas warrants more thorough security measures like comprehensive
background checks for student visa applicants.
The new role of the INS in Feinstein’s plan should be
limited to registering student visa applicants, conducting
preliminary background checks and carrying out deportations when
necessary. After that, it’s the duty of the CIA and FBI to
routinely gather intelligence about anyone ““ regardless of
whether or not they are international students ““ posing
terrorist threats.
While the INS may be able to help the FBI manage the 2 percent
of visa holders who are students by tracking them after the fact,
the situation can wait.
It seems more reasonable for universities housing international
students to make regular reports on their enrollment status to the
INS, which university representatives have publically agreed to do.
In fact, their agreement is the reason Feinstein has called off her
dogs on granting international student visas.
If universities are willing to report on the status of students,
there’s no reason to spend $32.2 million on an electronic
tracking system, especially since student information is kept on
paper already.
Rather than funding a potentially discriminatory information
system, the government needs to use those funds to advance New
York’s recovery, ease unemployment, and subsidize struggling
American industries.
Ultimately, we may be able to track people but we cannot track
their intentions. We might comfort ourselves knowing fewer people
are being allowed into the country through student visas, but we
need to remember that terrorists come from all nationalities,
including American.