Month: May 2014

Eye-Opening ICE News Release: "SEVP report provides snapshot of international students studying in US"

Hi Gang:
On May 7, 2014 ICE issued a news release about the enrollment of foreign students in the United States.
I have attached a copy of the ICE news release, in its entirety, to the bottom of this e-mail.
Here is the key paragraph from that presser:

As of April 1, almost 1.02 million international students were enrolled in nearly 9,000 U.S. schools using an F (academic) or M (vocational) visa. This marks a two percent increase from January. Seventy-five percent of all international students were from Asia, with 29 percent from China. Saudi Arabia and India had the greatest percentage increase of students studying in the United States at 10 and eight percent, respectively, when compared to January statistics. The top 10 countries of citizenship for international students included: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.
I am concerned about the vetting process for these students and those 9,000 schools.  Note that Saudi Arabia is among the top ten countries of citizenship for foreign students.  
While it would be wrong-headed to blame all citizens of Saudi Arabia for the terror attacks of 9/11, it is worth noting that on December 20, 2-13 ABC News posted the report:
Furthermore, I was one of four witnesses called to testify before the House Immigration Subcommittee on March 19, 2002 about how two of the dead 9/11 hijackers could have been issued authorization to attend flight school in the United States, six months, to the day- after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001!  The topic for that hearing was:

“INS’S MARCH 2002 NOTIFICATION OF APPROVAL OF CHANGE OF STATUS FOR PILOT TRAINING FOR TERRORIST HIJACKERS MOHAMMED ATTA AND MARWAN AL-SHEHHI”

This hearing was covered by C-SPAN and the C-SPAN video every member of Congress should be required to watch that video.

This horrifying lack of integrity to the system identified by the 9/11 Commission (to which I provided testimony) has not been remedied, however.
Additionally, any student from any country may be involved in criminal or terrorist activities.  The idea that we train foreign nationals in the United States who may ultimately decide to use that training against America or Americans should cause our government to carefully screen any student from foreign countries.  However, this is not done.  In fact, because of the huge numbers of students and the small number of ICE personnel, the resources are simply not available to properly vet these students and there is no way to truly make certain that these students actually attend school and that when such students fail to maintain status as bona fide students, that they will be sought by ICE to seek their removal (deportation).
Simply stated, the visa process is, all too often, used by aliens who seek to work illegally in the United States or carry out far more serious violations of laws, as a viable alternative to running our nation’s borders.
On May 8, 2014 the ICE website posted this news release:

Owner of Georgia English language school sentenced for immigration fraud

How many more of those 9,000 schools are also bogus “learning institutions?”
On July 30, 2013 the Washington Times published a truly disturbing report:

Homeland Security loses track of 1 million foreigners; report could hurt immigration deal

Here is how this important report begins:

The Homeland Security Department has lost track of more than 1 million people who it knows arrived in the U.S. but who it cannot prove left the country, according to an audit Tuesday that also found the department probably won’t meet its own goals for deploying an entry-exit system. The findings were revealed as Congress debates an immigration bill, and the Government Accountability Office’s report could throw up another hurdle because lawmakers in the House and Senate have said that any final deal must include a workable system to track entries and exits and cut down on so-called visa overstays.

The government does track arrivals, but is years overdue in setting up a system to track departures — a goal set in a 1996 immigration law and reaffirmed in 2004, but which has eluded Republican and Democratic administrations.

On August 2, 2012, CAPS posted my commentary. It focused on a troubling GAO report that and a CNS News report about the ensuing Congressional hearing that disclosed among other facts, that the TSA had permitted 25 illegal aliens to attend a flight school that was owned by an illegal alien!
We should also be greatly concerned about the fact that we are providing competition for American students and American high-skilled workers at a time when high-skilled American workers are suffering from more than double the unemployment rate of other workers.
In December 2011 “Dan Rather Reports” aired a disconcerting hour-long report on how highly educated and experienced American computer programmers are being replaced by programmers from India. The report was titled:

“ Rather Reports: No thanks for everything”

On May 15, 2007 a four minute infuriating video was aired on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN. It features an immigration lawyers’ conference in which lawyers were being coached to “not find qualified U.S. workers!” The lecturer is identified in the video as being Lawrence M. Lebowitz, the Vice President of Marketing for the firm of Cohen & Grigsby.

While Americans are losing their jobs and falling from middle class to poverty as a consequence, it is clear that this is precisely what Alan Greenspan and others, in and out of government want.  

On October 20, 2012 CAPS (Californians for Population Stabilization) posted my commentary:

“Leveling the Playing Field for American Workers”

My commentary contained the following- including a quote from Greenspan:

Comprehensive Immigration Reform would provide for a huge increase in foreign high tech workers and would no longer protect American workers from unfair foreign competition. This is precisely what Alan Greenspan called for when he testified before a 2009 hearing conducted by the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Immigration, chaired by the chief advocate for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Senator Chuck Schumer.

During his testimony Greenspan stated, in part:

“…The second bonus (in accelerating the influx of skilled immigrant workers) would address the increasing concentration of income in this country. Greatly expanding our quotas for the highly skilled would lower wage premiums of skilled over lesser skilled. Skill shortages in America exist because we are shielding our skilled labor force from world competition. Quotas have been substituted for the wage pricing mechanism. In the process, we have created a privileged elite whose incomes are being supported at non-competitively high levels by immigration quotas on skilled professionals. Eliminating such restrictions would reduce at least some of our income inequality.”

Senator Ted Cruz, however, is truly leading the charge against American STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) professionals.  He has been consistently very specific about what he wants where H-1B visas are concerned. He provided an amendment to S.744 referred to as “Cruz 5” which, incredibly, provides for a 500% increase in the cap for H-1B visas. His amendment w ould have increased the current annual cap of 65,000 such visas to an outrageous 325,000 high tech workers. The video of statements by Cruz  at a Senate hearing on this issue make his anti-American worker position abundantly clear.
The Winter, 2014 Edition of the quarterly journal, “The Social Contract” includes one of my articles:
In his historic speech before the 3rd Army on May 31, 1944, General George S. Patton said, on the strategy of holding a position:

“We’re not holding anything, we’ll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy.”

Pushing back against Comprehensive Immigration Reform is the same as holding position. The time has come for us to advance by demanding that our borders be made truly secure and our immigration laws be effectively administered and enforced.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform violates all of the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission but no one is willing to even consider how the lack of real border security and the lack of real integrity to the various components of the immigration system imperil national security and public safety.
The starting point for any discussion about any immigration legislation must be the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.  That commission determined that a lack of border security, including the visa process and fraud in the immigration benefits program, enabled terrorists to enter and embed themselves in the United States, as they went about their deadly preparations.

Immigration is not a single issue but a singular issue that impacts nearly every challenge and threat confronting the United States today!  Simply stated, the immigration laws were enacted to save lives and protect the jobs of American workers.
It is not “Anti-Immigrant” to be “Pro-American!”

Our armed forces are charged with securing America’s borders externally while the DHS is supposed to secure those same borders from within.  The failures of the DHS to live up to its half of the equation are undermining the efforts, valor and incredible sacrifices of Americas men and women who serve in our military!
If our government’s failures to protect American jobs by securing our nation’s borders and effectively enforcing our immigration laws concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! 

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler- 


Please check out my website:

https://www.michaelcutler.net/

       

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News Releases

May 7, 2014

Washington, DC

SEVP report provides snapshot of international students studying in US
International student enrollment up 2 percent at US schools, 75 percent of students from Asia

Media Note: High-resolution report infographics available for download on DVIDS.

WASHINGTON — The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), released “SEVIS by the Numbers,” a quarterly report of international students studying in the United States, Wednesday. The report is based on data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a Web-based system that includes information on international students, exchange visitors and their dependents while they are in the United States.

As of April 1, almost 1.02 million international students were enrolled in nearly 9,000 U.S. schools using an F (academic) or M (vocational) visa. This marks a two percent increase from January. Seventy-five percent of all international students were from Asia, with 29 percent from China. Saudi Arabia and India had the greatest percentage increase of students studying in the United States at 10 and eight percent, respectively, when compared to January statistics. The top 10 countries of citizenship for international students included: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil.

The April report also included key insight into which international students pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) coursework. Sixty-seven percent of international students studying STEM fields were male. Forty-three percent of all international STEM students studied engineering. Seventy-eight percent of international students from India studied STEM fields, while only eight percent of international students from Japan studied STEM fields.

Other key points from the report include: 77 percent of SEVP-certified schools had between zero and 50 international students; 72 percent of international students were enrolled in bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral programs; and California, New York and Florida had the most SEVP-certified schools. A school must be SEVP-certified before it can enroll international students.

The full report can be viewed here. Report data was extracted from SEVIS April 1. It provides a point in time snapshot of data related to international students studying in the United States. Data for the previous “SEVIS by the Numbers” was extracted from SEVIS Jan. 15.

SEVP monitors approximately one million international students pursuing academic or vocational studies (F and M visa holders) in the United States and their dependents. It also certifies schools and programs that enroll these students. The U.S. Department of State monitors exchange visitors (J visa holders) and their dependents, and oversees exchange visitor programs.

Both agencies use SEVIS to protect national security by ensuring that students, visitors and schools comply with U.S. laws. SEVP also collects and shares SEVIS information with government partners, including CBP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so only legitimate international students and exchange visitors gain entry into the United States.

HSI reviews potential SEVIS records for potential violations and refers cases with potential national security or public safety concerns to its field offices for further investigation. Additionally, SEVP’s Analysis and Operations Center reviews student and school records for administrative compliance with federal regulations related to studying in the United States.

Learn more about SEVP at www.ICE.gov/SEVP.

You may also visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or access this news release on your mobile device.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.