INS restricts educational access for students on tourist visas

The Immigration and Naturalization Services announced on April 8 new steps to attain greater control over tourists, businessmen and students entering the United States. The INS announced that, effective immediately, all foreigners would be required to have official student status before beginning courses at any U.S. institution.

Additionally, in a directive issued in late October — "Combating Terrorism through Immigration Policies" — President Bush called for stricter controls on student visas and barred certain international students from receiving education and training in sensitive areas, including areas of study with direct application to the development and use of weapons of mass destruction.

These changes have caused some concern among officials at colleges and universities around the nation. However, Princeton spokeswoman Marilyn Marks GS '86 said the recently announced change in INS regulations is not expected to have a great effect on the University.

Marks noted that the change only affects individuals in the United States who apply for a change of status, not people abroad who already require a visa to enter the country. She added that in the past, someone in the United States with tourist status could begin classes immediately after applying for student status without waiting for application approval.

"We don't expect this change to have a great impact on the University, as there are not many people who are here as tourists and then apply for status as full-time students," Marks said in an e-mail. "Most of our students come to us directly from abroad."

Nevertheless, some international students in the Graduate School are concerned that the tightening of immigration restrictions could cause problems.

"The greatest concern is for students from countries that are not on friendly terms with the U.S.," said Lior Silberman GS, parliamentary secretary for the GSG. "I am really concerned that they may face even greater difficulties than they do today . . . Going home for the summer might become impossible instead of nearly impossible."

Marks added that the presidential directive will not cause significant changes in the process by which sensitive research is approved, though it might cause longer delays.

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"People coming to do research in fields included on a Technology Alert List already must go through security clearances," she said. "It is likely that these clearances will now take more time, and that the process will be stricter."

Regardless, Marks said the directive will not severely impact University's international students, in part because all classified research has been prohibited at the University since 1971. For this reason, she added, "The specific kinds of research that would most interest the government are not taking place here."

Several organizations of independent colleges and universities, including the Association of American Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, sent a letter on April 15 to the administration expressing concerns about the directive. In the letter, these organizations, which represent many universities including Princeton, stated that they were committed to working closely with the government to ensure that the new system for tracking visa holders is implemented successfully. However, the letter also expressed concern about Bush's directive.

"On the issue of access to education and training in sensitive areas, we believe that the most fruitful approach will be to concentrate on initial entry into the U.S. of individuals who pose a potential security threat," the letter states.

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The letter also suggested that the "fundamentally open character of our higher education system," might make it very difficult to prevent students already in the country from gaining access to information made available to other students.

Marks said the University shares these organizations' position on training in sensitive areas. "It's hard to know exactly how these changes would affect Princeton . . . We want to know if there are any problems or harmful unintended effects and will monitor how all the changes are working," she added.