By Rebecca Kellogg
BYU is well prepared to implement the Immigration and Naturalization Services'' new electronic tracking system.
The system, called the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), will track information about nonimmigrant students and visitors on an F, M, or J visa via a new database, called SEVIS.
The system is part of a larger scale trend toward tightened control over international students in America.
'BYU accepts a student and lets the consul know. The consul notifies immigration. BYU has to report if the student doesn''t show up for school to immigration,' said Enoc Flores, Director of International Services at BYU.
Flores will be BYU''s SEVIS coordinator once the system has been implemented. He said SEVIS, while similar to the information system now in effect, will bring some changes to the way the process is administered.
'We will not be able to print out I-20s anymore. All of them will have to be issued through the SEVIS system,' he said
Flores said the International Student Center at BYU has an advantage in implementing the SEVIS program; they have known about the prototype system and have had time to prepare for it. International Services already keeps a database with most of the required information, so switching to the national data system will not be a stretch.
'Port of entry is new,' said Flores, citing it as one of only a few new data fields that BYU does not currently track.
Other changes in the new system include the window of time prospective students have to state their intent to study.
'Anybody who comes in at a port of entry has to declare intent to study,' he said. 'Now, even if they have a change of status it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 months of just waiting.'
Not all schools are as prepared for the new system as BYU.
'A lot of schools are struggling with this; they don''t have the staff to deal with it,' Flores said.
Also, certain conditions must be met for a school to be eligible to apply for the system.
'A school must have been issuing I-20s for three years,' said Flores. 'We''ve been issuing for 50 years.'
Some students feel that the INS stated partial motive of deflecting possible terrorist attacks is a worthy reason for tightening the system.
'It''s a small price to pay for them to be here. It''s our country. They come here on our terms,' said Jared Bishop, a BYU-Idaho alumnus and Provo resident.
Bishop served an LDS mission in Columbia. He said the conditions in the United States are much more peaceful and orderly than conditions in Central America, and this is due in part to a strong government.
Not everyone agrees that the INS system is necessary, however.
'I think that it is annoying when you go to a foreign country and they want to monitor your every move,' said Aaron Anderson, 24, a senior in International Studies from Phoenix, Ariz. 'On the other hand, if it stops terrorism, is it worth it? I think that it is not. I think that we continue to give away the liberties people died for every time we give the government the go-ahead to intrude in the lives of normal people, including foreigners,' he said.
According to the INS Web site, 'SEVIS involves the same data that has always been required by law and regulation from foreign students and exchange visitors.'
One the system is in place, all U.S. educational institutions that wish to enroll international students must participate in the program.
Flores said BYU will try to enroll during the voluntary enrollment stage. This is an open enrollment period ending Aug. 16.