UNITING AND STRENGTHENING AMERICA BY PROVIDING APPROPRIATE TOOLS REQUIRED TO INTERCEPT AND OBSTRUCT TERRORISM (USA PATRIOT) ACT OF 2001

October 26, 2001 – President Bush signed into law today an anti-terrorism bill that includes several provisions designed to protect our nation’s borders and alter immigration provisions. The bill (HR 3162), known as the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, passed the Senate on October 25, after having passed the House of Representatives a day earlier. According to a section-by-section analsis inserted in the Congressional Record by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the bill includes several sections that would alter immigration and visa policies and procedures, including:

Sec. 414. Visa integrity and security. This section expresses the sense of the Congress that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of State, should fully implement the entry/exit system as expeditiously as practicable. Particular focus should be given to the utilization of biometric technology and the development of tamper-resistant documents. This entry/exit system will record the entry and departure of every non-U.S. citizen arriving in the United States and will notify the INS whether foreign nationals departed the United States under the terms of their visas. The provision requires that the information obtained from the entry/exit system be interfaced with intelligence and law enforcement databases to enable authorities to focus on apprehending those few who do pose a threat. 

Sec. 416. Foreign student monitoring program. This section seeks to implement the foreign student monitoring program created in 1996 by temporarily supplanting the collection of user fees mandated by the statute with an appropriation of $36,800,000 for the express purpose of fully and effectively implementing the program through January 2003. Thereafter, the program would be funded by user fees. Currently, all institutions of higher education that enroll foreign students or exchange visitors are required to participate in the monitoring program. This section expands the list of institutions to include air flight schools, language training schools, and vocational schools. 

Sec. 417. Machine readable passports. This section requires the Secretary of State to conduct an annual audit to assess precautionary measures taken to prevent the counterfeiting and theft of passports among countries that participate in the visa waiver program, and ascertain that designated countries have established a program to develop tamper-resistant passports. Results of the audit will be reported to Congress. This provision would advance the deadline for participating nations to develop machine readable passports to October 1, 2003, but permit the Secretary of State to waive the requirements imposed by the deadline if he finds that the program country is making sufficient progress to provide their nationals with machine-readable passports. 

Sec. 418. Prevention of consulate shopping. This section directs the State Department to examine what concerns, if any, are created by the practice of certain aliens to "shop" for a visa between issuing posts. 

Senator Bond Champions International Student Exchange

In his floor speech supporting the bill, Sen. Kit Bond (R-M0), noted that foreign students who come to the United States are a "vitally important part of our educational system" and stated, "it is not the student visas that are the problem." To read his speech, click here. NAFSA encourages its members from Missouri to thank him for his leadership in acknowledging the valuable contribution foreign students make to our country’s foreign policy.

Kennedy/Browback Proposal

Senator Sam Brownback’s (R-KS) floor speech indicated that he and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) intend to introduce bipartisan legislation soon that "will continue to refine further other potential areas where we can make changes in immigration laws to better be able to catch those who seek to enter our country to do us harm." 

NAFSA anticipates that the Kennedy/Brownback legislation will take a balanced approach to to immigration security matters, putting in place the necessary measures while seeking to maintain an open society. In particular, we expect that the legislation will reflect a constructive approach to foreign student monitoring and recognition of the importance of foreign students to the United States. As the proposal becomes available, we will post a copy on our web site.

To read the NAFSA.news story published on October 22 about this proposal, click here.

Senators Feinstein and Kyl also plan to introduce additional legislation in the near future. Feinstein announced on October 25 that they would introduce a revised version of her earlier bill. Although she appears to have dropped the 6-month moratorium on student visas, she nonetheless plans to propose tightening up on student visas. 

Stating that "the foreign student visa system is one of the most under-regulated visa categories, subject to bribes and other problems that leave it wide open to abuse by terrorists and other criminals," Feinstein outlined these provisions governing student visas:

• Mandate the creation of a centralized, comprehensive database of visa holders and other non-U.S. citizens who enter the nation. All federal agencies must contribute information, and the database must be accessible at all ports of entry.
  
• Prohibit student visas for individuals from countries on the State Department's list of terrorist-sponsoring states (currently Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Syria, North Korea, and Cuba).
  
• Require the INS to conduct a background check before the State Department can issue a student visa to foreign nationals.
  
• Require all educational institutions to notify the INS immediately when a foreign student violates the term of his or her visa by not showing up for classes at all.
  
• Increase federal staffing to handle additional border security and visa responsibilities. The bill would: increase the number of INS inspectors at ports of entry by 200 annually through FY2006, increase the number of U.S. Customs inspectors by not less than 200 annually over the same period, and beef up State Department staffing in U.S. consular offices overseas.