USD Magazine, Winter 2002

HOW HAVE WE BEEN CHANGED?

Climate for International Students Turns Chilly Some Return Home, Others Not Applying to U.S. Universities W hen it was revealed by the FBI that several of the terrorists suspected in the Sept. 11 attacks

human rights may be threatened by the tribunals - secret, closed proceedings without juries, where the ultimate sen– tence, death, can be mered our. The tribunals, which have been upheld by the Supreme Court, were used in World War II, when eight Nazi saboteurs snuck into the country with explosives and a plan to bomb military and civilian instal– lations. Six of the eight were electrocuted. "We might be laying the ground to undermine what is an inevitable military vicrory," with the tribunals, Caner said, adding that many Washington Democrats oppose the idea bur are afraid to publicly condemn it, given the nation's patriotic climate. Applauding Carter's seance is Hinman, who notes some nations say they will not turn over suspected terrorists to the United States unless they are tried in public. "The United States wouldn't put up with secret trials of its citizens by other countries, so why are we surprised?" Professor Maimon Schwarzschild, a Constitutional law expert who served in the Justice Department under Carter, defends the tribunals, saying they are nec– essary to keep suspected terrorists from sharing information during a public trial or using it as a venue to spout propaganda. "The first World Trade Center trial was a disaster. Not only was it used as a prop– aganda platform, a lot of information about the way the World Trade Center was constructed came out," Schwarzschild says. "You're not dealing with crime here, you're dealing with warfare. If you hold a public trial you disclose where the infor– mation is coming from and, secondly, you invite terrorists to take more hostages ... until they let those on trial go." Schwarzschild says the tribunals are unique in that they apply only to non– citizens, and that the president must notify Congress when tribunals are being held and report the results. He said political pressure on the president to act appropri– ately should be enough to prevent abuse. "Oddly, a lot of people who claim to be shocked (by the tribunals), say it's a terrible perversion of justice and then the punchline is they say we ought to just shoot them (suspects) out of hand," he says. "If the alternatives are a court mar– tial to make sure you got the right guy or to shoot them between the eyes, I think the first choice is better." +

entered the United Stares on student visas, Yvette Fontaine - who over– sees USD's international student pop– ulation - was disappointed, but nor surprised. Last year, she got an unwelcome look at just how easy it was to enter the country illegally by manipulating the paper-chin immigration system : Three foreigners - an Algerian, an Italian and an Indonesian - falsified paperwork and forged her signature to gain access to the United States. Fontaine discovered the deception when rhe Immigration and Naturalization Service sent her routine forms to con– firm rhe three were attending USD. "I checked the file and fo und chat they had never even applied," says Fontaine, who immediately notified INS. "I lacer found out that an inter– national ring was selling forged signatures (of university officials) for $2,000 apiece. Ir's just a piece of paper, so it's easy to duplicate." Those familiar with the INS-administered student visa process have long known that it is susceptible to such problems. Universities are required to notify the INS if a student who enters the country does nor enroll for classes, but little, if anything, was done by the government to find that student. And universities did not want to discourage legiti– mate international students - who bring with chem a raft of cultural and social diver– sity - from coming to An1erica and sharing their views with other students. "The United States is free and diplomatic, and we are not as strict as ocher countries (in immigration)," Fontaine says. "After the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the INS appeared to get more strict, but they let it go after a while and nothing happened." Sept. 11 changed char. After intense criti– cism of the student visa system by congres-

sional leaders and law enforcement, the INS is revamping the process, Fontain e says, requiring universities to report when stu– dents change their major or are academically disqualified. Immediate computerized reporting ro rhe INS of whether a student is attending classes is expected chis spring. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is inter– viewing some 5,000 young men in the United Scares from Middle Eastern nations, many of whom are students, and universities are being pressed ro provide specific data about those students to the FBI. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif. , even has co-sponsored legislation that would bar international stu– dents who come from seven countries the United Scares says sponsors terrorism. As a result, the climate for international students at American universities has chilled. USD, which usually averages 365 interna– tional students, curren cly has 313 students and has seen a half-dozen students return

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