Over the last several years we’ve learned of serious abuse and fraud within the federal government program that provides visas for students who want to study in the United States.  It’s become clear that the program is being exploited to gain entry into the United States, and that reforms need to be passed by Congress and implemented.

I’ve  been a proponent of acting on the flaws in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, and just recently I’ve introduced legislation, the Student Visa Integrity Act, to help reduce fraud and abuse in our student visa programs.  

It’s important we make sure the law is sound, especially with the rise in the number of foreign students enrolling in U.S. schools.  According to the Brookings Institution, “The number of foreign students on F-1 visas in U.S. colleges and universities grew dramatically from 110,000 in 2001 to 524,000 in 2012.”  

Current law requires educational institutions to be a part of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) before enrolling these students from abroad.  The law also has in place a system for tracking and monitoring foreign students, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which was mandated by Congress after the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing where one of the people responsible was in the United States on an expired student visa.

We’re seeing student visa holders who never attend class, despite being required to attend a specific number of hours of educational activity a week.  And, while there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of student visas granted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn’t made it a priority to keep tabs on these visa holders.  So when there are loopholes and flaws in the program and the system in place to monitor these students, we need to address them.   

The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, September 11 and the Boston bombing should have taught us that this program needs vigilant oversight and reform, but instead the program has expanded without the proper safeguards in place.

My bill will not only help root out fraud and abuse, but also help keep a check on individuals attempting to use the student visa system to enter the United States and then disappear.

Here’s what my bill, the Student Visa Integrity Act, does:

•    Requires schools to be accredited by an appropriate accrediting body in order to be enrolled in the SEVP program and to accept foreign students
•    Provides authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to immediately suspend school participation and access to federal databases if they are not compliant with reporting requirements or there is reasonable suspicion of fraud
•    Increases penalties for those who perpetrate fraud
•    Requires background checks on Designated School Officials (DSOs) and a requirement that they be nationals of the United States or legal permanent residents
•    Requires online training of DSOs every three years
•    Permanently bars DSOs who commit fraud from filing future student visa petitions
•    Ends a flight school’s SEVP participation if it is not FAA certified
•    Requires DHS to implement Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) II, an update to the antiquated tracking system currently in place
 

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program and the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System are operated totally on fees, not taxpayer dollars.  Schools must pay to be a part of the program, and foreign students pay a fee for visa processing.