Bill calls for moratorium on visas, more extensive tracking in Congress

Bills circulating in the U.S. House and Senate would require more information from incoming international students, or could temporarily stop international students from receiving visas altogether.

Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl is co-sponsoring a bill that would put in place a nine-month moratorium on student visas.

Under the legislation, international students could be required to include their photographs, fingerprints and information about family members on visa applications.

The government may also require universities to report information about students' majors and class enrollments.

Last year, 2,635 out of 34,488 University of Arizona students were from foreign countries, according to the UA 2000 FactBook.

President Bush has also said he supports extensive tracking of international students and deporting students who are in the country illegally.

The proposed bills come after it was discovered that some of the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon entered the United States on student visas.

International students with expired visas may remain in the country legally under some circumstances, said Joanne Lagasse-Long, interim director of international student programs and services at the UA.

When international students enroll in the University of Arizona, they fill out additional paperwork that legalizes their stay in the United States. As long as they are enrolled full-time at the UA, even if their visas expire, they are residing in the United States legally.

Student visas are only used for allowing international students to enter the United States.

However, some members of the UA campus community think increased restrictions for international students would discourage those students from coming to the UA for college.

"If you were in the international student group, how much information would you be willing to give to enroll (in a university in the United States)?" said Christine Erkman, UA program director of student exchange programs. "Would you want your parents to have to go through background checks? This legislation may discourage a lot of people from coming to the U.S."

Erkman said he is concerned because new restrictions could bring difficulties to five out of 34 international exchange students in her program who want to extend their stay at the UA.