Copyright© 2001 by School Services of California, Inc.

Volume 14                   For Publication Date: December 21, 2001             No. 26

By the Way . . .

College Officials Are Wary on Visa Enforcement—10 Arrested in San Diego. Although college officials have publicly promised to cooperate with a crackdown on foreign students who overstay their visas, the officials are privately concerned that the effort may discourage foreigners from applying to American colleges. That concern has been exacerbated by the recent arrest of 10 foreigners in the San Diego area since some of those arrested were students at local community colleges. Community college officials indicated that the arrest by immigration officials was made without warning or notification to the colleges.

Those arrested were accused of violating the terms of their student visas, after the Immigration and Naturalization service had compared visa and academic records. About 90% of the students who had visas were attending classes, but 10% had apparently dropped out or finished their studies yet remained in the country.

According to a recent news article, a governing official said the immigration office in San Diego began its effort by focusing on students from eight countries that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has named as havens for terrorists, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.