Casey said that Harvard wants to ensure that no aspect of the SEVIS registration process comes as a surprise to students or administrators.
“What we’re looking for is transparency in the process so we can plan accordingly,” he said.
A Rising Tide
Yesterday’s hearing reflects a mounting concerns relating to international students in Washington over the past two weeks. Many of Massachusetts’ congressional representatives have taken an active stand on related issues.
Rep. Barney Frank ’61, D-Mass., who serves on the Select Committee for Homeland Security, issued a statement on Monday praising Congress’s decision to reexamine the effectiveness of the SEVIS program, which became effective on Jan. 31. Flaws in the system that have arisen since its inception ultimately act against the national interest, he said.
“Foreign students contribute greatly to the vibrancy of our universities,” Frank said. “They not only learn American democratic values that they then take back to their home countries. They also pay full tuition and thus provide an important infusion of money to our all-too-strapped American universities.”
He said the government should bear the burden of fixing the system so as not disrupt the flow of foreign students in and out of the country.
“The INS needs to devote sufficient resources to repair SEVIS so as to adequately flag potential terrorists while not preventing the law-abiding vast majority of foreign students from studying at our universities.”
But SEVIS is not the only national security legislation to garner criticism from congressional leaders in the past week. On Mar. 24, thirty-two members of the House of Representatives submitted a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging him to reconsider the more stringent student visa policies established in response to post-Sept. 11 national security concerns.
While affirming the necessity for effective security measures, the letter said that the new standards had prevented many talented scholars from entering the country.
“It can now take months for people, whose applications would seem to be routine, to secure visas. The result is that students, visiting professors, and scholars have been unable to enter the United States for the semester for which they applied; eminent scientists have missed important scientific conferences; and exchange programs with friendly Arab countries have been threatened,” the letter read.
Visa delays prevented several members of the Harvard community from arriving on campus this year when they initially planned. Some were forced to spend a semester—or even a year—away from Cambridge.
Harvard administrators worked through the fall to facilitate students stranded in foreign countries, Ladd said. But the university can only do as much as the system allows, she added.
“We’ve had somewhat less control over this,” she said.
Michael Mershon, a spokesperson for Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., who authored the letter to Powell, said the representative’s effort was largely the result of pressure from four or five colleges in his region. Three other Mass. representatives, including Frank, signed the letter.
Mershon said McGovern remains optimistic about making the visa application process more amicable toward foreign students, even though present leaders have not shown the welcoming of foreign students to be a priority.
“Hope springs eternal that the state department will try and address this. This is the kind of thing that continues to lessen our standing in the world, particularly among our friends,” he said.
—Staff Writer Nathan J. Heller can be reached at heller@fas.harvard.edu.