Homeland Security official defends student tracking system

A top Homeland Department Security official on Wednesday defended the government's implementation of a system to track the whereabouts of foreign students studying at U.S colleges and universities.

Despite glitches in the system, the Student and Exchange Visitor and Information System (SEVIS) is fully deployed and working well, Johnny Williams told the House Judiciary Immigration, Border Security and Claims Subcommittee. Williams is the interim director of immigration enforcement at Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which replaced part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

SEVIS was originally conceived from an earlier program to track foreign students that was tested but never fully deployed. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress passed laws mandating that immigration officials develop a way for colleges and universities to track their visiting students because several of the terrorists had expired student visas. Lawmakers required that the system be functional by Jan. 1.

According to prepared statements, Williams told the House panel that SEVIS is performing "very effectively." So far, 4,300 schools have been certified to participate in the Internet-based data system. And by Aug.1, Williams said the system should contain complete information on all foreign students studying in the United States.

But Glenn Fine, the Justice Department's inspector general, said SEVIS still lacks key components for it to be considered fully deployed. According to a report issued last week, SEVIS still suffers from technical problems that make it inaccessible to some institutions, Fine said, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is falling behind in its certification of participating schools.

He added that immigration officials have not allocated sufficient resources to SEVIS so that it can help reduce fraudulent immigration activities.

The college community charged that SEVIS information is frequently inaccurate and inaccessible. David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, told the panel that many schools find, for example, that students' immigration forms print at other schools.

"SEVIS is a new system developed and deployed under an aggressive schedule," Williams said. "Any new system will have bugs and anomalies that must be addressed." The agency plans to hire additional support to address technical problems, he added.

Thomas Fischer, a former INS official, described the SEVIS program as a "dumbed down" version of the pilot system that omits certain capabilities necessary for tracking and enforcing student visa policies. SEVIS lacks several features that would enable the system to coordinate the tracking of student financial data, for example.

Moreover, SEVIS relies on contractors to investigate educational institutions that apply to participate in the program. That process can take up to three months, he noted. And Fischer urged Congress to stiffen penalties for institutions that do not comply with SEVIS policies.

Ward called for immediate changes in the system to ensure timely updates and accessibility.