Analysis: Student visa concern highlighted
SHAUN WATERMANPublished: December 13, 2007WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The arrest on firearms charges of a Moroccan student at the University of South Florida has highlighted what critics say are continuing security loopholes in the way U.S. visas are issued to those who want to come here to study.
A bill introduced in the House Thursday would tighten security procedures for student visa issuance and introduce new registration requirements for students during their stay.

Opponents say the provisions are onerous and run counter to the need to improve the image of the United States. Bringing foreign students here is a major priority for U.S. public diplomacy, say officials, and surveys show that those who visit the United States -- even from traditionally hostile populations in the Middle East -- have consistently more positive views of the country.

Moroccan student Karim Moussaoui appeared in court in Tampa, Fla., Thursday facing federal firearms charges arising out of a visit in July to a shooting range with two fellow students, Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed.

Megahed and Mohamed, both Egyptian nationals, were arrested in South Carolina in August and charged with having explosive material in their car.

Mohamed later was charged with terrorist offences after he was accused of making and posting on the Internet a video showing how to use a remote-controlled toy as a bomb detonator.

Moussaoui is charged with having a firearm, which is illegal for anyone in the country on a non-immigrant visa, such as a student visa, and faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.

According to the complaint, after Moussaoui told federal agents he had visited the range but not used a weapon there, investigators found a picture of him on Magahed's computer "standing at a firing lane possessing a shoulder-fired weapon and wearing the type of hearing protection shooters use at a shooting range."

He was released Thursday on a $50,000 signature bail bond, after surrendering his passport and agreeing to electronic monitoring.

Moussaoui's attorney, Stephen Crawford, told the Tampa Tribune the charge was "a relatively minor offense" and said Moussaoui was being prosecuted because of his connection to the two Egyptians. "The reason we are here in federal court is he is a friend of Mr. Mohamed and Mr. Megahed," Crawford said.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., the author of the bill introduced Thursday, believes Moussaoui's arrest is "another reason to consider this legislation," said spokesman John Tomaszewski.

The bill would increase the registration requirements for foreign students. Currently they must check in with a designated school official upon arrival and at the end of each semester, to verify they are still attending classes and fulfilling the other requirements of their visa.

Under the bill, they would have to check in every 30 days.

Safiya Ghori, government relations director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, called the provision "very troubling."

"They are already under scrutiny," she said of foreign students. "The presumption (of the bill) is that they are a threat."

Tomaszewski said that Bilirakis recognized the importance of student visas as a public diplomacy tool, but pointed out the number of them had only just recovered to pre-Sept. 11, 2001, levels.

"It would only take one bad apple to ruin" all that progress, he said, "one person to slip through the net with bad intentions."

The bill would also require Department of Homeland Security officials based in embassy consular affairs sections to review all student visa applications before they are decided.

"You need a system in place that screens all these applicants before they get here," said Tomaszewski. "There are some holes in the system."

The officials, called visa security officers, are currently based at a number of embassies around the world, in so-called countries of concern, almost all in the Middle East or with large Muslim populations.

Currently, the officers review visa applications, including ones from would-be students, using a risk management approach -- focusing on those with certain "red flags," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Michael Keegan.

"They are focused on those (applications) which are higher level risks for fraud or national security," Keegan told UPI. As is customary, he declined to comment on pending legislation.

Critics fretted that the additional checks would slow down an already elongated visa application process for would-be students.

"There's no question that this will have a special impact on students from the Middle East and other Muslim countries," said Ghori.

Currently the State Department "bends over backwards to make the process as smooth as possible," said an official authorized to speak to the media. He said embassies had a specially expedited interview procedure for students whose school starting dates were looming.

"Our goal is that no one should miss their class," the official said.

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