“The IRS’ admission that it unfairly targeted conservative groups is a direct and obvious assault on our Constitution. No branch of government should be used to harass and judge the American people, and Americans cannot, and will not, accept judgment based upon their beliefs. I have a long history of supporting the freedoms and liberties outlined in our Constitution, and I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure these freedoms and liberties are not tossed aside.

“Fairness is neither partisan, nor political, and the Taxpayer Nondiscrimination and Protection Act will restore the concepts of fairness to the federal government’s tax collectors, so no individual or group is wrongly discriminated against in the future.”

Congressman Bilirakis also authored a letter to IRS Commissioner Shulman regarding this issue last spring. A copy of the letter is attached.

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Read Online: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/07/boston-probe-problems-student-visa-overstays/#ixzz2Shu3L5i6

WASHINGTON (April 7, 2013) -- Confirmation that the students from Kazakhstan linked to the Boston bombers and arrested last week are living in the U.S. on expired or invalid student visas has exposed an immigration problem that's festered for years. 

Students flock to the U.S. from around the world. But when their visas expire, many simply stay. 

The problem is fueled by loose laws and lax enforcement practices by the government and the schools attached to student visas. Responsibility for keeping track of the students is spread thin, leaving many free to overstay at will and leaving the country exposed to security threats. While the Department of Homeland Security is now taking steps to tighten the system, it's unclear whether the immigration overhaul being considered in Congress will make any significant changes. 

"I find it astonishing," Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, told FoxNews.com. 

Luis Guerra, a Florida attorney who specializes in visas, said it is common for officials and schools to ignore the problem and said authorities only go after overstays if there’s a known national security threat or public safety concern.  

He also said universities benefit financially by having more international students attend. A university typically charges thousands of dollars more in tuition and fees for out-of-country students.  

“Usually, schools have only one person monitoring the student visas. It’s too much (work) for one person,” he told FoxNews.com. “There’s also a conflict of interest. Schools are in the business of making money and by rounding up students and sending them back, they don’t make any.”

Guerra, who came to America when he was 14 on a tourist visa and ended up staying illegally for years before going through the proper channels to become legal, believes the responsibility of cracking down on students should be taken away from schools and left to authorities. 

'Schools are in the business of making money and by rounding up students and sending them back, they don’t make any.'

- Attorney Luis Guerra

Vaughan agrees and says officials only go after overstays when high-profile problems arise.  

“Correcting or addressing the overstay problem has not been a priority for the Obama administration nor had it been one for the Bush administration before him because it requires the implementation of new procedures," she told FoxNews.com. 

Vaughan also believes the higher education industry puts pressure on Congress and the DHS to make it as easy as possible for international students to stay.

“DHS is often hesitant to pursue anything that would be perceived as a roadblock,” she said.

FoxNews.com spoke to two former students who are currently living in Massachusetts on expired student visas.

The women, both in their late 20s, one from Pakistan and the other from Lithuania, say they’ve never been contacted by authorities regarding their visa status. They live near their former university, have jobs in the area and say they have a shot at making a better living in the U.S. than in their own countries. 

“It was easier to stay,” one of the women said. “Why go back? Our lives are here now. We contribute to the community.”

According to the Migration Policy Institute, about 40 percent of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the country came here with valid visas -- of all kinds -- but ended up staying after their passes expired. 

Under the broad umbrella of these 4.5 million visa overstays, it is not known exactly how many are students.

However, there are currently around 10,000 accredited U.S. schools, colleges and universities that accept foreign students, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Typically, student visas fall into three categories: academic study (F-type), non-academic/vocational studies (M-type) and cultural/visitor exchange (J-type) – which include au pairs, interns and camp counselors.

Last year, the U.S. issued 486,900 new F1 visas -- the most common type of temporary entryway available to international students. F1s are full-time passes that allow students to stay in the country for the duration of their studies. According to the State Department, the number of F1 visas issued in 2012 more than doubled from the amount issued a decade earlier.

The monitoring of students and exchange visitors is conducted through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System -- SEVIS -- an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security. The certification of schools in the Student and Exchange Visa Program – or SEVP-- also falls under the purview of the Homeland Security.

But being in the country on an expired student visa isn’t necessarily a crime -- it’s a civil violation. Entering the country without permission is a misdemeanor criminal offense. Re-entering the country with an invalid visa or in any other illegal way after being removed may result in a felony charge and prison time. 

The Obama administration is moving to make some changes, as the concern over student visas has increased amid the Boston bombing investigation. Last Thursday, the government ordered its customs agents to verify that every international student traveling to the U.S. to study has a valid visa. While that may seem like standard protocol, it’s not. 

According to an April 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office, between 2006 and 2010, the DHS had allocated only 3 percent of its investigative work hours to overstay investigations and its Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU), which prioritizes and investigates possible overstays, had arrested approximately 8,100 overstays.  

Last year the GAO also raised concerns that U.S. officials were not working effectively enough with criminal investigators and others to detect fraud or monitor schools in the program.

In 2011, New York and California topped the list of states that had the largest number of students and exchange visitors; Massachusetts ranked No. 5 with 117,395 students, according to the DHS.

Last week’s directive from the Obama administration was among the first pro-active procedural changes the government has made following the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured more than 260 people.

The new rules came a day after the White House acknowledged that Azamat Tazhayakov, a student from Kazakhstan accused of hiding evidence for one of the bombing suspects, was allowed to return to the U.S. in January without a valid student visa. According to government sources, Tazhayakov’s expired student visa status was in the SEVIS system. It’s not known why, then, the 19-year-old was allowed to reenter the country on Jan. 20 even though he was no longer attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also studied.

The elder brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, took classes at Bunker Hill Community College in the spring semester of 2007. 

Officials say Dias Kdyrbayev, another Kazakh national accused of obstruction of justice, was also living in the U.S. under an expired student visa.

Tamerlan Tsaernev was in my College Writing I class at Bunker Hill Community College in the spring of 2007. Following the Boston bombings, authorities arrested both men and accused them of hiding evidence to help their friend Tsarnaev.

Tazhayakov's and Kadyrbayev’s expired student visa statuses should have triggered an automatic notice to federal officials and served as a warning to them they had 30 days to fix their student status or leave the country. That didn’t happen. 

In a three-page letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley pressed for answers about the apparent loopholes in the student visa system.

“It’s surprising that the administration isn’t already verifying that any student coming into the country has a valid visa,” Grassley wrote in his May 3 letter. “What’s more concerning is that nearly 12 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we haven’t fixed the problems with identifying visa overstays.”

Grassley, the top Republican member on Judiciary Committee, also wants answers on why the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website contains a section that tells students who have expired visas how they can still gain entry into the country.

“This language seems to advertise the fact that in some cases, non-immigrants may be readmitted to the United States even if they are traveling on a terminated SEVIS record,” Grassley wrote in his letter.

Grassley also says he’s concerned that the immigration bill the committee will consider this week “does nothing to close these types of loopholes and other problems with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.”

But others have accused Grassley of exploiting the Boston bombings and say he’s using them as leverage in the broader immigration legislation debate.

Two months before the Boston attack, Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis filed legislation that called for strengthening the country’s student visa background checks and better monitoring student status once they are on U.S. soil. He had filed similar legislation in the past four congressional sessions.

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“Tourism is a chief economic driver for Florida, bolstering job creation across the state,” said Bilirakis. “From our amusement and theme parks to our white, sandy beaches, Florida has something for everyone. VISIT FLORIDA was able to share Florida’s success story as a leader in tourism, as well as provide insight into how Congress can better support this vibrant industry.”

As Florida's number one industry, tourism employs more than one million Floridians. The industry was responsible for welcoming 89.3 million visitors to Florida and generating nearly $72 billion last year. Nationally, tourism is a multibillion-dollar industry that supports nearly eight million American jobs. 

“In order to continue to increase the total economic impact of travel to the Sunshine State, we are increasingly focused on growing international visitation,” said Mr. Seccombe. “Last year, Florida welcomed a record 3.6 million Canadians and surpassed 10 million overseas visitors from 181 countries. However, there remains a huge opportunity to continue to increase international visitation to the state.”

In his testimony, Seccombe described the impact tourism has on Florida’s economy and job creation. He also stated that while Florida is the top domestic vacation destination, the top family vacation destination, the top U.S. beach destination and one of the top international travel destinations, VISIT FLORIDA’s vision is to establish the state as the top travel destination in the world. To do this, he said the state is constantly looking to expand to new markets, especially when it comes to international visitation.

To view Congressman Bilirakis and Mr. Seccombe’s remarks, please see the video below. Mr. Seccombe’s written testimony is also attached.

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The arrest of three additional suspects in connection with the Boston bombing, two of whom were in the United State on student visa, is the latest in a long history of system failures demonstrating we are not adequately screening students before they are admitted to study in the U.S. or ensuring they are abiding by the terms of their visa once here.

On the May 2, 2013, edition of Fox News Special Report, Bret Baier and Catherine Herridge discuss H.R. 640 (http://1.usa.gov/10wLKLI), a bill Congressman Bilirakis filed to close this gap in our student visa program. The Congressman has introduced legislation to this effect in the past four Congresses.

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“One of the challenges our service members face is how to match their professional military skills and technical training with civilian jobs,” said Congressman Bilirakis. “As our veterans make the transition from the battlefield to civilian life, we must continue to make them a top priority and ensuring they are able to compete in today’s technologically evolving economy is paramount.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was 9.2 percent in March 2013, higher than the 7.6 percent national average. The number of veterans receiving unemployment benefits has also doubled since 2002.

The Troop Talent Act of 2013 improves the alignment of specialty skills acquired in the military with civilian certifications or licenses, expands existing efforts to meet current workforce demands and implements quality assurance measures to ensure credentials translate into the private sector. It has already gained support from many veterans groups, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Student Veterans of America, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

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Congressman Bilirakis: “The United States must remain committed to the reunification of Cyprus and should not allow others to use the current economic situation to force a settlement. For almost 40 years, Turkey has illegally occupied the northern region of this country, displacing residents and hindering the Republic of Cyprus’ ability to effectively govern. While a reunified Cyprus would undoubtedly contribute to the economic stability of the Eastern Mediterranean, it is imperative that the proper groundwork be laid before negotiations begin again.”

Congresswoman Maloney: “The ongoing economic uncertainty in the Republic of Cyprus, along with the hardships facing its people, must not be viewed by the United States as an overwhelming factor in any reunification talks going forward. I believe a reunified Cyprus is in the United States’ interest and will help pave the way for more prosperity and peace throughout the entire region.  Cyprus is playing a vital role in European affairs while also strengthening relations with the United States.  It has joined with us on issues important to our own security, including the fight against terrorism and other international crimes.  It is up to Congress and the Administration to make our voices heard to ensure we reach the ultimate goal of reunification of the Republic of Cyprus.”

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Congressman Bilirakis: "I once again join my colleagues in the House in calling for the immediate reopening of the Theological School at Halki without preconditions. The Ecumenical Patriarch, as the leader of nearly 300 million Orthodox Christians, has a record of reaching out and working for peace and reconciliation among all faiths and has fostered dialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims. All we are asking is that Turkey be required to abide by its constitution, which secures religious rights for all of its citizens and institutions."

Congresswoman Maloney: “Turkey is overdue in recognizing the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s international status and allowing the reopening of the Theological School at Halki. They must make good on their promise to show it is serious about the rights and freedoms of religious minorities.”

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Jobseekers should dress professionally and bring plenty of résumés, as the following businesses will be in attendance: 

“As our nation’s heroes navigate the VA health care system, they deserve to know what options are available, especially as the Affordable Care Act takes effect,” said Congressman Bilirakis. “It is the responsibility of the VA to inform and educate our veterans regarding their options, so they can make informed decisions about the benefits they earned in service to this country.”

To see the Congressman’s full remarks and the VA’s response, please watch the video below. 

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