THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT THIS CR ISSUE GO TO Next Hit Forward Next Document New CR Search Prev Hit Back Prev Document HomePage Hit List Best Sections Daily Digest Help Contents Display
Congressional Record article 2 of 150 | Printer Friendly Display - 7,589 bytes.[Help] |
[Page: E2323] GPO's PDF---
One of the easiest ways, albeit illegal, to get into the United States and stay here in definitely is through student visas . The visas are issued for full-time students for a specified time. Yet students often stay in the country well past the visas' expiration dates with impunity. This situation must not continue for students or anyone else who received a visa to come to the United States.
That does not mean this country has to close its doors to foreign students or other wishing to work in or visit the United States. It certainly does not mean the United States should place a six-month moratorium on all student visas , as Sen. Dianne Feinstein has proposed. It does mean the Immigration and Naturalization Service is going to have to do a far better job of controlling visas and keeping track of everyone with a visa who enters this country.
Those who are here past the expiration dates on their visas should be deported. However, it also should not be such an onerous burden for visa holders, particularly students, to get their visas properly renewed before they expire as long as the person continues full-time studies in this country and is law-abiding.
With America's heightened awareness of the need for secure borders and internal security, we no longer can afford to ignore student visa requirements. Nor can we grant visas to anyone without closer scrutiny of his or her background.
Of particular concern are students from countries with a record of harboring terrorists who are seeking visas . The list of such countries is short, but includes several nations in the Middle East, where much of the world's international terrorism is bred.
It is critical that those seeking visas from such nations receive extensive background checks before they enter the United States. Some may see this as racial profiling. It is actually nation profiling, and it is necessary for public security. Thorough background checks need not prevent the United States from accepting large numbers of foreign students, even from countries where terrorism is a problem.
[Page: E2324] GPO's PDF
It simply means that the United States must enforce its visa laws to reduce the chance of terrorism and to get a better grip on controlling its borders.
To accomplish this goal in a humane manner, the INS is going to have to increase its work force so that those wishing to spend extended periods of time in the United States are carefully screened, are easily able to renew visas for legitimate purposes and are deported when they violate the terms of their visas .
THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT THIS CR ISSUE GO TO Next Hit Forward Next Document New CR Search Prev Hit Back Prev Document HomePage Hit List Best Sections Daily Digest Help Contents Display