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A government system that tracks foreign students studying in the United States has detected tens of thousands of immigration violations in the two years since it began. But few of those cases were ever investigated.
The student-tracking system, which monitors whether foreign students are living up to the terms of their student visas by staying enrolled in school, was one of a handful of high-tech measures laid out in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks to erase some of the blind spots in the nation's immigration system. But critics say it won't deliver much added security until the government does more to investigate the abuses it detects.
In its first year alone, the program, known as the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, detected more than 36,000 potential violations of student visas nationwide, of which only 1,600 were investigated, according to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates the system. Agents made 155 arrests as a result. The agency was unable to provide updated figures.
"Obviously, it's better to know than not to know when somebody breaks the law. But it would be even better to actually do something about it," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates tighter controls on illegal immigration. "Anyone who's planning to abuse the system knows the odds are in their favor. It's like with all immigration enforcement: People know their odds of getting caught are something like their odds of winning the lottery."
That's a result, he said, of the government not having enough agents policing immigration laws. Even so, he added, just having the system in place is an improvement. http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=38
The student-tracking system, which monitors whether foreign students are living up to the terms of their student visas by staying enrolled in school, was one of a handful of high-tech measures laid out in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks to erase some of the blind spots in the nation's immigration system. But critics say it won't deliver much added security until the government does more to investigate the abuses it detects.
In its first year alone, the program, known as the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, detected more than 36,000 potential violations of student visas nationwide, of which only 1,600 were investigated, according to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates the system. Agents made 155 arrests as a result. The agency was unable to provide updated figures.
"Obviously, it's better to know than not to know when somebody breaks the law. But it would be even better to actually do something about it," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which advocates tighter controls on illegal immigration. "Anyone who's planning to abuse the system knows the odds are in their favor. It's like with all immigration enforcement: People know their odds of getting caught are something like their odds of winning the lottery."
That's a result, he said, of the government not having enough agents policing immigration laws. Even so, he added, just having the system in place is an improvement. http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=38
