Customs ordered a strict inspection of international student visas (picture) article cover image
News/Community Wire/Archive/May 3, 2013
Legacy archive / noindex

Customs ordered a strict inspection of international student visas (picture)

Republished with permission

Customs ordered a strict inspection of international student visas (picture) The Associated Press reported that the Department of Homeland Security ordered in an internal meeting on Friday that all customs staff must take immediate action...

Local families

Customs ordered a strict inspection of international student visas (picture) The Associated Press reported that the Department of Homeland Security ordered in an internal meeting on Friday that all customs staff must take immediate action to strictly ensure that every international student entering the United States holds a valid student visa. This is the first security policy change the government has issued since the Boston bombing. The order was issued on Friday by David J. Murphy, a top official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Just one day ago, the government confirmed that one of the three newly arrested suspects in the Boston case successfully entered the United States in January this year even though his student visa had expired, causing considerable criticism. According to earlier reports, on April 27, the Massachusetts police arrested two young men in a black BMW with the words "Terrorist Number One" written on the license plate. It was confirmed that they were friends of Dzhokhar Nayev, the suspect in the Boston terrorist attack, and had taken photos with Dzhokhar in Times Square. The pair were indicted on obstruction of justice charges after helping the second suspect in the Boston case get rid of a backpack containing gunpowder. According to reports, the two young men are from Kazakhstan and are named Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev. They were detained by the police for questioning on the 19th of this month and were later released. On the 20th, they were arrested again for violating immigration laws. According to the New York Times, they face deportation. Suspects are still able to enter the United States even after being expelled. There are serious loopholes in the registration system for international students. Many people are currently questioning whether two new suspects can still return to the United States after being expelled from their schools after entering the country. This exposes serious loopholes in the registration system for international students in the United States. The student visas held by the two Kazakhstani suspects arrested by the US authorities have expired. Among them, Tazkhayakov left the country and successfully entered the United States after his visa expired. Kadyrbayev, who majored in engineering, was expelled from school last fall due to poor grades, but has been stranded in the country since then. Economics major Tazkhayakov was also expelled from school and his visa expired on January 4. However, what is puzzling is that after leaving the country in December last year, he successfully entered the United States in New York on January 20 this year when he returned to the United States. Federal authorities said that when Tazkhayakov re-entered the country, his record was still in the Department of Homeland Security's International Students and Exchange Scholars Information System. But he also admitted that Customs and Border Protection did not receive timely notification that he had been expelled from the school.

Sources and usage

This piece is republished or synchronized with permission and keeps a link back to the original source.

Editorial tags

Community WireArchiveRepublished with permission