Foreign students’ Federal scrutiny of international student visas has Hawaii university officials worried that it will be harder to recruit new international students, while foreign students already here wonder whether it will be harder to gain admission into the United States.
future uncertain
University officials and students
worry about the effects
of government scrutinyBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comToday is the deadline for three Hawaii universities to submit the records of over 3,300 international students to Immigration and Naturalization Services, which subpoenaed the information 10 days ago.
INS requested the students' names, ages, addresses, nationalities, birth origins and academic status.
At the first meeting of the Homeland Security Council last week, President Bush ordered federal administrators to do a thorough review of international students' visas. The immigration service has reported that at least one of the hijackers in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks used a student visa to gain entry into the country.
Hawaii Pacific University and Chaminade University have already complied with the immigration order, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa was still compiling its list yesterday.
Students whose visas and passports are in order have nothing to worry about, according to the universities and immigration District Director Don Radcliffe.
Only those on student visas who are no longer attending school full time, have taken unauthorized employment or have committed a crime have cause for concern, Radcliffe said.
"If they are out of status, we are certainly going to pursue actions to remove them from the U.S.," Radcliffe said.
He said it is common for international students to overstay their visas or commit crimes.
"They do anything another segment of the society would do," he said.
He expects that once his office has a complete list of international students at all Hawaii institutions, they will find visa holders not attending school.
"We may occasion a fill investigation to find them," he said. "We have to check our departure records to see if they have left the U.S."
Nancy Ellis, HPU vice president for student support services, said the university has worked to assure its 1,939 students that they should not be concerned by the subpoena.
"As long as they're enrolled and their I-20s (student visas) are in order, they don't have anything to worry about," she said.
The immigration scrutiny "is a good thing," she said. "It's something that they should be doing."
Ellis said HPU recruiters are doing their best to reassure potential international students that they are welcome in the United States.
"It would be a shame if they went to other countries to seek higher education," she said.
Chaminade spokesman Peter Wolf echoed Ellis' concerns. While he said the university is not concerned about the immigration investigation, it is concerned that more stringent restrictions on student visas could hinder students' educational processes.
Wolf said Chaminade's 75 students come primarily from the South Pacific, Micronesia and Asia, with a few from Europe.
He said the Chaminade president has been in touch with Hawaii's congressional delegation, asking them to scrutinize closely any legislation that might hinder students' access from Micronesia and Asia.
"They don't have opportunities for higher education (aside from) HPU and Chaminade," Wolf said.
UH spokesman Jim Manke said university officials are trying to clarify whether they must inform students before they turn in the list of 1,300 names.
"It's just a matter of when we turn the information over to INS," he said.
UH-Manoa student Jae Cheon Lim of Korea was not aware of the subpoena but said he was not worried about having his records turned over. His concern was whether it would be harder to maintain his visa to study in the United States.
"Before Sept. 11 it is not easy to get an American visa, and now it is more difficult," he said.
