Visa controlDHS lost track of thousands of foreign students in U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has lost tabs on more than 6,000 foreign students who had entered the United States on student visas which have since expired — effectively vanishing without a trace.

As ABC Newsreports, the massive error was revealed by DHS officials who responded to ABC’s inquiry as part of an investigation following complaints about the system of entry for foreign students.

“My greatest concern is that they could be doing anything,” said Peter Edge, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative who is part of the investigation, “Some of them could be here to do us harm.”

The lapse follows as the department struggles to continually keep track of the rapidly growing number of students coming to the country to study. That number is now over one million each year, with roughly 58,000 students purportedly “overstaying” their allotted time. The 6,000 come from this number, after agents determined them to be of “heightened concern.”

“They just disappear,” said Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma). “They get the visas and they disappear.”

One problem is that federal immigration officials continue to grant schools the power to accept overseas applications, even if the schools have not been accredited by the state and have little academic and administrative oversight. Of the 9,000 schools approved to accept these applications, there are eighty-six beauty schools, thirty-six massage schools, and nine schools that teach horseshoeing.

These schools include MicroPower Career Institute, which, although licensed by New York, had much of its top administration indicted on charges of visa fraud.

After the student arrives, it is up to these schools to track their whereabouts and report to the DHS.

“We know we have a lot of non-accredited universities that are using this system to bring people in, collect money, and not educate them at all,” said Coburn.

More upsetting for many is that fact that the 9/11 Commission specifically urged more oversight of the student visa program.

“It’s been pointed out over and over and over again and the fact that nothing has been done about it yet…it’s a very dangerous thing for all of us,” said Thomas Kean, the 9/11 Commission co-chair.

The office for Homeland Security Investigations has taken steps to tackle the problem, including developing a new program where field agents visit school campuses, as well as an effort better to alert customs officials should a former visa student attempt to re-enter the country.

“Our work has only begun,” said Edge, “We have a lot more work to do in this space.”