| Kali Prasad |
Posted
on 15-May-01 09:51 AM
SOURCE: CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
WWW.CHRONICLE.COM
Senators Say INS Should Postpone Plan to Collect Fees From Foreign Students
By RON SOUTHWICK
A bipartisan group of seven senators has urged the Immigration and Naturalization Service to delay imposing new fees on foreign students until the agency develops a better system for collecting the money. College lobbyists say the fees, which are intended to finance a program to monitor students from other countries, could discourage international students from attending American universities.
Sens. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, and Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, sent the letter Friday to Kevin Rooney, acting commissioner of the I.N.S. In the letter, the senators say that the planned system would place too many burdens on students and should not be started this year.
Further, the senators state that the I.N.S. should work with colleges to draft a better method of collecting the fees.
The immigration service has yet to put the new system in place. By early summer, the agency is expected to publish regulations requiring foreign students to pay a one-time fee of $95. The I.N.S. aims to start collecting the fees 30 days after issuing the regulations.
A spokeswoman for the agency said Monday that its officials had not received the senators' letter and could not comment on it.
The senators state in the letter that they are responding to complaints from groups like the American Council on Education and the American Institute for Foreign Study. College lobbyists have said the system could hurt American colleges in the increasingly competitive market for foreign-born students. The lawmakers note that international students, and their families, contributed $12-billion to the American economy last year.
The fees are designed to pay for a computer system -- the Student and Exchange Visitor Program -- designed to collect information on all foreign students in the United States. The Justice Department wants to monitor students to make sure they are not staying past the limits of their visas, and to guard against possible acts of terrorism.
Student-aid advocates say the proposed fee-collection system is unfair because it imposes hardships on students from less-developed countries. The proposed system requires students to pay with a credit card or send a check or money order from an American bank. Students without computer access, or those who live in areas where it is difficult to convert currency to American dollars, could find the fee system especially onerous.
College officials worry that if the new fees are put in place this summer, the institutions will not be able to inform students of the rules in time to allow them to register for classes in the fall. In addition, college lobbyists fear that students will not be able to get their visas without proof that they paid the fees, but the government estimates that it could take several weeks to send students their receipts. Some students could miss part of the semester, the lobbyists fear.
Advocates for foreign students hope the lawmakers' letter persuades the I.N.S. not to move ahead. "It would be a disaster to go with it as it is set up now," said Victor C. Johnson, director of public policy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
The other senators who signed the letter represent widely divergent political views. Sen. Jesse A. Helms, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, signed it, as did Sens. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Bob Graham of Florida, John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and Patrick Leahy of Vermont, all Democrats.
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Background articles from The Chronicle:
Lobbyists Blast Plan to Make Foreign Students Bear the Cost of Databank to Track Them (4/6/2001)
U.S. Commission on Terrorism Urges Close Scrutiny of All Foreign Students (12/15/2000)
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