Agency targets visa abuses
More scrutiny of foreign students sought
Federal immigration officials are pushing to increase oversight of foreign exchange students, speeding entry for legitimate applicants but also cracking down on those who overstay their visas and on "sham schools" that exist only to provide legal cover for foreigners seeking to enter the country, officials said yesterday.
The effort, aimed at bolstering national security, would fund an improved database of student visa holders and double the number of investigators assigned to track students and schools to 151 nationwide. In addition, 60 new workers will be assigned to help colleges and schools comply with the rules.
Federal law requires immigration officials to recertify schools that accept foreign students every two years, but officials have not completed a single recertification since the program began five years ago. There are about 680,000 foreign students in schools across the country, including 11,000 in Greater Boston.
To finance the initiative, the government is proposing to increase the fees it charges students and their schools to participate in the exchange program, doubling the total collected to $119 million. Schools that enroll foreign students are required to monitor them and report on their whereabouts to the federal government.
If approved, the proposed fee increases would take effect Oct. 1, according to a proposal Julie Myers, head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, outlined to college presidents and officials at a conference yesterday at MIT. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Management and Budget must approve the final version of the rules before they can take effect, officials said.
Myers said improving visa enforcement is an important part of the homeland security effort, alluding to past abuses of the student visa program. One of the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was in the United States on a student visa.
"Unfortunately, some people who've done some very bad things have been people who have exploited the student visa system," she said in an interview after the conference. "It's critical for the American people and the Congress to know that we take violations of the student visa process seriously."
Since the program began, immigration officials have arrested an average of 635 student violators a year, including an average of 25 a year in New England
With the new fees - foreign students would now have to pay a one-time fee of $200, up from $100; schools that are now charged $350 would pay $1,700 - the agency will be able to pay for the new measures and expects to increase the level of enforcement.
Officials said the higher fees would also benefit students and schools by funding a faster computer system to track students, lighten the workload on colleges, and reduce delays students face arriving in the country. Many students are delayed for hours at airports.
Louis Farrell, director of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, said the vast majority of colleges and students are complying with the law. But, he said, the lack of resources hinders oversight. Investigators screen schools for suspicious cases everyday, he said, but they are not able to review all schools fully because of lack of money and personnel.
"There is a concern, yes, that there could be a security risk," he said. "If we didn't get the fees, we would not be able to address the vulnerabilities as thoroughly as we would with the new systems and the additional people."
Nationally, 9,248 schools are authorized to accept foreign students. Schools run the gamut from high schools, flight schools, beauty academies, and even a piano-tuning school to elite universities such as Harvard and MIT.
Farrell said the tracking system has resulted in some key arrests and in a number of bogus schools being shut down.
In 2006, Montana State University reported that 11 Egyptian students never showed up for class, and they were later found scattered throughout the country. Although no terrorism link was established, all were arrested and deported, Farrell said.
About three weeks ago, authorities arrested a California man who owned two schools that taught English, alleging he ran a visa-procurement scheme.
Critics of current levels of immigration say the government is allowing too many foreign students into the country, and is unable to keep up with the sheer numbers who arrive every year.
Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that favors lower levels of immigration, criticized the government for failing to recertify the schools that accept foreign students. He said the government should only allow bachelor degree-seeking foreign students into the country to promote the exchange of ideas among American and foreign students.
"We have way too many foreign students," he said. "That really is just another example of how our immigration system is choking on immigration.
Colleges and universities are concerned about maintaining foreign student enrollment. After the Sept. 11 attacks, foreign student enrollment in the United States plunged, but it has since climbed back to prior levels.
Schools from Boston University to Tufts and MIT said they are reviewing the proposed rules.
"We need to have a conversation about what these changes mean," said BU spokesman Colin Riley. "If it affected [foreign student enrollment], it would be a concern."
Yesterday, the contributions of foreign students were on display on the MIT campus lawn for the international student fair. Students from other nations milled among US students who gathered to sample foods, listen to music, and watch dance performances.
Spyros Zoumpoulis, copresident of MIT's International Students Association, which sponsored the fair, said the group tries to create a "home away from home" for foreign students.
"I don't think the system would lack efficiency or effectiveness if the delays were shorter," said Zoumpoulis, who is from Greece. "I really do believe there is a way to treat people who are not from the US better."
Myers said her law-school roommate was a foreign student from Grenada, so she knows first-hand the benefit of studying with people from other lands.
"Obviously, nobody loves fee increases," she added. "But we think that this has been a program that's been a pretty good program. So to see more students come into the country and to know that we're going to be able to track them and find them if there's a problem, I think, is terrific."
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com.
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