Senator Hutchison -- Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2002
CONTACT: Lisette Mondello

SENATOR HUTCHISON APPLAUDS INS DECISION TO ALLOW BORDER
COMMUTER STUDENTS TO CONTINUE ATTENDING CLASS IN UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has clarified a policy that jeopardized the education of thousands of daily commuter students from Mexico and Canada who attend college in the United States.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, author of a measure in Congress that would allow part-time commuter students to continue their education, called the INS decision "a victory for both the students and the schools."

The genesis of the confusion over INS policy started this summer, when the Agency announced it was dusting off a law enforced only sporadically before September 11, 2001. The law grants student visas only to full-time students, not part-time commuter students who by tradition had been allowed to enter as visitors on a daily basis.

"While it is clear that our nation's border policy needs a major overhaul and the INS must keep better track of who is in our country and why, we should not shut out part-time students from Mexico and Canada, who return to their countries and families each night after class," Senator Hutchison said. "The reworked INS policy is a rational response to an evolving situation, and one that will allow these students to better themselves and the border regions we share with them."

To resolve the situation, the INS has recently proposed that commuter students attending schools within 75 miles of the U.S. border apply for either an F-1 (academic student) or M-1 (vocational student) non-immigrant visa. The Agency's "interim rule" currently in effect allows these students to attend class until December 31 while it collects comments from the public about the proposal before issuing a final ruling.

"I am pleased that the INS has indicated a willingness to re-evaluate the rules so we can come to a workable solution for our colleges and students," said Senator Hutchison, whose legislation (S. 2742) attracted bi-partisan support.