INS Imposes New Student Rules

— -- INS Stiffens Restrictions on Foreign Students

W A S H I N G T O N, April 9 — Hoping to better track foreign visitors andkeep out would-be terrorists, immigration officials are tighteningstudent visa rules and proposing shorter U.S. trips for touristsand business travelers.

Effective immediately, any foreigner wishing to study in theUnited States must have an approved student visa before takingcourses, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Monday.

The INS also is proposing to restrict tourists and businesstravelers to 30-day visits, down from the current six months.

The INS has been under intense scrutiny since the Sept. 11terrorist attacks, with some in Congress calling for the agency tobe dismantled. Supporters and critics agree that the agency isburdened with conflicting missions to help immigrants enter andstay in the country and to identify and keep out those who try toenter illegally or who may pose a danger.

The restrictions on travelers potentially could affect more than2 million visits to the United States a year and were immediatelycriticized by people in the travel industry.

"Any time we make it more difficult — erect barriers or tightenbarriers — for people to come into our country, we give themincentive to go someplace else," said Elise Wander of the TravelIndustry Association of America.

The INS says it had 10 million tourist visa admissions to theUnited States in 2000, the latest year with available data. Inthree-quarters of those admissions, the visitors stayed less than amonth. In 2.5 million cases, business travelers stayed an average13 days.

"The reason to make these changes is to increase our control onwho is coming in and increase our awareness of what they intend todo while here," said INS spokesman Bill Strassberger.

Visitors would have to show unexpected or compelling reasons foran extension of a travel visa, such as the need for medicaltreatment or a delay in completing a business matter, Strassbergersaid. The maximum length of a visa extension would be reduced fromone year to six months.

Before Sept. 11, INS Commissioner James Ziglar's focus was onimproving the agency's service and cutting waiting times forimmigration benefits. Those remain priorities, but under pressurefrom Congress — especially since the attacks — Ziglar has beenforced to give precedence to keeping better track of foreignvisitors and tightening immigration policies.

"These new rules strike the appropriate balance between INS'mission to ensure that our nation's immigration laws are followedand stop illegal immigration and our desire to welcome legitimatevisitors to the United States," Ziglar said.

The INS believes requiring approval before students enroll willensure they have received appropriate security checks beforeentering the country.

The INS also is proposing that people who want to switch from atourist or business visa to a student visa return to their homecountry to apply. A person now can switch while in America. Inreturn, the INS says it would speed up decisions on such requests,issuing them within 30 days.

Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta of Egypt and MarwanAl-Shehhi of the United Arab Emirates, came to the United States onvisitor visas and later applied for student visas. They begantraining at a Florida flight school in July 2000, more than a yearbefore the INS approved their student visas.

At the time of the attacks, approximately 600,000 foreignstudents were attending U.S. colleges and universities. INSofficials acknowledged they could not verify the whereabouts ofmany and promised changes to better track them.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has pushed for an improved studenttracking system, called the changes a beginning. But she said thechanges will work only when INS has implemented the studenttracking system. It is scheduled to be up and running next year.

"Right now the INS has no idea where most of these studentsare," said Feinstein, D-Calif.

A Senate committee was scheduled today to consider bordersecurity legislation Feinstein is co-sponsoring that, among otherthings, would expand the number of institutions required to reportto the student tracking system and make passports issued after 2003be tamper-resistant.

Under another proposed rule, INS wants to require people who getfinal deportation orders to surrender themselves within 30 days.Those who don't will be denied any chance to appeal or seek asylum.

The proposed rules are open to public comment for 30 days.

— The Associated Press

American Airlines Sued for WTC Attack

N E W Y O R K, April 9 — The husband of a woman who died in the WorldTrade Center collapse has sued American Airlines and an airportsecurity company for $50 million.

The suit is the first brought against an airline on behalf ofsomeone who worked in the trade center, according to lawyers forthe woman's family.

The wrongful death suit, filed by Thomas Smithwick in federalcourt in Manhattan on Monday, alleges that the airline and GlobeAviation Services Corp. failed to properly screen passengersboarding Flight 11 at Logan International Airport in Boston onSept. 11.

Hijackers flew the jetliner into the trade center's north tower,where his wife, Bonnie Shihadeh Smithwick, worked on the 93rd flooras a money manager for Fred Alger Management Co.

An American Airlines spokesman, Todd Burke, and a Globe Aviationspokeswoman, Lynn Glovka, declined comment.

Several suits have been filed by families of the passengers onthe jets used in the attacks; other victims' families have suedOsama bin Laden's terrorist network, al Qaeda.

— The Associated Press

NYC to Lift Ban on Fireworks for July 4

N E W Y O R K, April 9 — New York City will lift a banon fireworks displays in place since the Sept. 11 attacks tostage a nationally televised July 4 Independence Daycelebration, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"For years, New York City has prominently celebratedAmerica's independence and we will continue this significanttradition this Fourth of July by hosting Macy's annualfireworks spectacular," Bloomberg said Monday.

"We believe that the city will be ready for this type ofdisplay, which would have been inappropriate and disruptive inthe months immediately following Sept. 11, and we willhonor our Independence Day in a safe and festive manner," the mayor said.

The display will be the first since fireworks were bannedin New York following the Sept. 11 attacks to alleviate thestress of explosions on city residents and the burden ofpolicing on an already overstretched police department.

The 30-minute, July 4 fireworks show, in celebration ofAmerica's 226th birthday, will be titled, "A Time ForHeroes," and will feature twin towers of light and a tribute tothe rescue workers who saved thousands of lives on Sept. 11.

The 26th annual Macy's fireworks show is being developed bytwo of the nation's leading families in fireworks: the Souzasof Long Beach, Calif., and the Gruccis of Bellport, N.Y.

— Reuters