On May 10, 2002, NAFSA sent the following letter to the Washington Post regarding "INS Tracking System Set to Roll" (May 9, 2002)

Letters to the Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20071

To the Editor:

Your May 10 story “INS Tracking System Set to Roll” quotes an anonymous Justice Department official, who says that “obviously the schools were not cooperating” with INS in tracking foreign students. This charge is outrageous and entirely unfounded, but the Post printed it, apparently without seeking any comment from the community accused. 

The fact is, schools have been maintaining information about their foreign students for decades and take seriously their obligation to comply with the large body of immigration law that regulates foreign enrollees.  In 1988, the INS asked schools to stop transmitting information about their foreign students to that agency, because it could not keep up with the volume of information it was receiving.  No tracking system will ever be effective if the INS cannot figure out a way to process the data it collects. 

Sincerely,
Victor C. Johnson
Associate Executive Director, Public Policy
NAFSA: Association of International Educators