WASHINGTON — In an effort to limit the ability of international terrorists to exploit America’s foreign student visa program, Congressman George Miller (D-CA) introduced legislation today to strengthen foreign student background checks and require communication between foreign countries, immigration officials, and colleges and universities in the United States.

“Like many Americans, I value the attendance of international students at our colleges and universities, but I am troubled that poor administration of the student visa program has become a threat to national security,” said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

“My new bill would require foreign countries, the INS and American colleges and universities to work closely together to ensure that foreign students do what they say they intend to do — come to the U.S. to study and then go home, unless they legally extend their stay,” Miller said. “Right now, we have no idea if they do that or not.”

At least one of the September 11th hijackers entered the country on a student visa, as did one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers. Last year, a congressional commission on terrorism concluded that national security requires tighter monitoring of the status of foreign students. And recent congressional hearings discovered gaping loopholes in the student visa program.

Each year, over 500,000 international students enter the United States to study at our colleges, universities, and trade schools. Miller noted that the vast majority of these students contribute to the intellectual achievements of American universities, promote understanding across cultures, and acquire an appreciation for American civil liberties and democracy. But, Miller said, “the student visa program is riddled with loopholes.”

For example:

Ø All the information in student visa applications is reported by the international student. There is no due diligence requirement from home countries to ensure that this information is accurate and that the student is trustworthy.

Ø The State Department does not notify the college when a visa is granted, nor does the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) promptly notify the college when the student enters the country. The last contact the college had with the student may have been granting admission. If the student enters the country but does not show up on campus, neither the college nor the INS may know anything went wrong for a year or longer.

Ø The INS is behind schedule implementing the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which requires data collection on international students’ enrollment status and current address. As a result, the INS does not know when an international student graduates or drops out. Nor has the INS established a database to track foreign visitors’ entry and exit from the country, so the INS does not know how many students stay in the country after completing their studies.

Like other student visa reform bills, Miller’s bill, “The International Student Responsibility Act,” would recommit the INS to implement the electronic tracking databases and give the INS more resources to follow up on the information they collect. But Miller’s bill rejects any moratorium on student visas and it establishes new procedure to ensure students show up on campus. His bill would:

Ø give the INS additional resources to implement databases mandated by the 1996 law as quickly as possible;

Ø authorize funding to ensure that the databases are not a paper exercise, but are used aggressively as the basis for investigations and, if appropriate, deportations;

Ø require the INS to notify colleges with 10 days when their students enter the country, and require colleges to promptly notify the INS if any of their students fail to enroll;

Ø create an incentive for international students to comply with the law by withholding their transcripts and diplomas until they return home or extend their stay in the U.S. legally;

Ø require the Department of State to ask international students’ home countries whether the students are known criminals or terrorists before granting the visas; and,

Ørequire heightened scrutiny of students from countries that are state sponsors of terrorism.

“One of the best protections against terrorist threats in our country, of course, is to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S. in the first place,” Miller said. “My bill would require better screening of foreign student applicants and better coordination among all parties engaged in the student visa process. We must strive to keep America as open as possible to foreign students but also to ensure that we have closed the gaping loopholes in the student visa program that make our country more vulnerable to terrorism.”

Extension of Remarks on Student Visas by Congressman Miller