Educators say visa scrutiny hurts U.S.

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Monday, Dec. 24, 2001 | 9:46 a.m.

International education officials at Nevada's major colleges and universities fear the federal government's heightened scrutiny of student visas will give the United States a bad image abroad and affect what is a billion-dollar business nationwide.

They also question whether the crackdown on student visa violations announced by the Bush administration shortly after Sept. 11 makes inroads toward combating terrorism, its primary goal.

"We all understand that things have changed and everyone agrees that we don't want terrorists in our nation," said Susan Bender, director of the office of international students and scholars at University of Nevada, Reno.

"But we're not sure if this is the best way to be going about combating terrorism," she said.

Concern about the government's stance on foreign students has heightened in recent weeks, after the high-profile arrest in San Diego of 10 Middle Eastern students who had violated the terms of their visas.

"Perception is very powerful," Bender said, noting how increased scrutiny of foreign student visas could affect future enrollment.

"The perception that the United States is becoming a difficult place to study could become reality, whether because of the media or through word of mouth between the students and their families and friends," she said.

Some 2,755 foreign students studied in Nevada in the 2000-2001 academic year. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Community College of Southern Nevada, and the University of Nevada, Reno attracted the bulk of this number, with about 2,400 of the total.

Foreign students added $12 billion to the economy nationwide in 2000-2001, and more than $47 million to Nevada's economy.

Nevada's colleges and universities routinely inform foreign students of their visa requirements, but there are still some violations of the rules, Bender said.

The most common abuses include allowing visas to expire after graduating and working at jobs for longer hours than allowed by the visa.

Professionals in international education nationwide are worried that a negative image of the United States, when added to recent record increases in foreign student enrollment in Australia and Great Britain, could affect the nation's historical leadership in the field of international education, she said.

"It seems pretty obvious that there will be an economic impact if the immigration enforcement actions continue," said Shelly Rodgers, assistant director of government relations at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Peggy Blumenthal, vice president for educational services at the Institute for International Education, said that the government's actions may discourage students in countries that feel they are being targeted, but that the United States will still be attractive to students from other countries.

"There's a big pie of foreign students out there, and more than enough to go around," she said.

College and university officials also question the thinking behind the scrutiny.

They point out that only one of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists entered the country on a student visa and that students are a small percentage of foreigners entering the country.

"Tightening controls on student visas seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to the attacks," said Sook Hollingshead, director of international students and scholars at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"I'm not sure how much it will help national security, given that foreign students are about 2 percent of the total number of people who enter this country with temporary visas every year," she said.

There were 547,667 foreigners studying in the nation's colleges and universities last year, according to the Institute of International Education -- and more than 30 million in the country on tourist and business visas.

"Is the INS scrutinizing these other visas as much as student visas -- the millions of foreign tourists who come to Las Vegas, for example?" Hollingshead said.

"Basically, we're looking at everybody," Eyleen Schmidt, a spokeswoman for the INS, said. "But specifically, we're looking at student visas because the president directed to us to place more scrutiny on them."

A group of the state's major colleges and universities has been meeting bimonthly via teleconference to address the issue, including updates from local immigration officials and e-mails to students.

No arrests or detentions of foreign students enrolled in Nevada have been reported since Sept. 11.

"Still, we want to make sure there's a consistency in applying the laws and to spread the word that Nevada is still a good place to come and study," Bender said.

"We're concerned," Anna Lee Jauhiainen, director of international student services at CCSN, said. "But unfortunately we can't change the political environment of the world.

"For now, we're doing what we've done in the past, and maintaining our optimism."