Despite organizational and civil liberty concerns, Boston University will comply with the United States government’s implementation of a system to monitor foreign students.
When the system is completed, it will provide more accurate and timely information on international students, said Greg Leonard, director of Boston University’s International Students and Scholars Office.
Funding for the program is in question, Leonard said. One possibility is that international students will be charged a fee in order to support the program.
“Many believe the government should fund the program rather than placing the burden on students,” Leonard said.
However, some students agreed international students should be charged.
“I think that it’s a very good idea. If you’re coming to this country to learn, then a small fee isn’t going to matter,” said Rodrigo Diaz, a freshman in the College of Engineering and an international student from Spain. “It’s when you are coming here for the wrong reason that it will.”
Six years ago, Congress ordered the development of a computer network to track foreign students in the United States when it discovered that immigration services was allowing the names and information of foreign students to pile up unread in immigration offices, according to The New York Times. No significant progress in the program was made until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks caused a demand for an increase in national security.
The system would be able to flag visa violators, whereupon immigration service enforcement agents could research the students’ reason for being in the U.S., checking for possible terrorist threats, according to the Times.
Even after the system is completed, there will be a need to find ways to scan the database to pinpoint the violators who seem most likely to be a threat to U.S. safety. This system is still being tested and is not expected to be operational until next year.
A Times article said there are currently 547,000 foreign students holding visas in the United States, but immigration service officials are unsure where they are and if they are actually attending school or have overstayed or violated their visas.
“There is a fear that the federal government has rarely been able to implement a system as complex as this one; that it would either fall on its face or experience great problems implementing it in a way that would impede international exchange,” Leonard said.
Some university officials have objected to the system, arguing such a policy threatens foreign students’ civil liberties, Leonard said. They are also concerned the system may discourage foreigners from applying to U.S. universities, mainly because international students provide for a significant amount of income from tuition.
“Regardless of these apprehensions, the vast majority of [university officials] believe the government has a right to have information on foreign students and in electronic form,” Leonard said.
According to Leonard, there has been some degree of reluctance shown toward the tracking system by officials at BU. However, the University will still work with the government to implement the system.
“It is clear that this is the law and that this is going to happen, and we are going to comply with it,” Leonard said.
Officials at BU had discussed the system prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but had not planned on how they would put the program into effect.
“It wasn’t until Sept. 11 that higher education realized that this was going to happen and was being placed on a fast track,” Leonard said.
According to Leonard, BU has been discussing the system and is now ready to start formal planing meetings to determine how it will comply with the law. BU will need a new database, specifically for international students’ records, designed so they can communicate with the government.
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