{"id":14534,"date":"2017-07-13T14:59:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T18:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=14534"},"modified":"2018-12-28T12:44:08","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T17:44:08","slug":"students-terror-f-1-program-still-serious-national-security-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2017\/07\/13\/students-terror-f-1-program-still-serious-national-security-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"Students of Terror: F-1 Program Is Still a Serious National Security Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"
In 2001, most Americans became aware of the F-1 student visa. Hani Hasan Hanjour, the terrorist who crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, had entered the U.S. as an F-1 student<\/a> in order to attend flight school. The 9\/11 Commission<\/a> noted that the student visa program was vulnerable to abuse<\/a> and recommended that security measures be tightened. But as images of the World Trade Center collapse faded into memory, student visa security disappeared from public consciousness.<\/p>\n However, the F-1 program has remained a pipeline for immigration violators. The Obama administration was unable to locate<\/a> 6,000 foreign nationals who disappeared after entering the U.S. on student visas. And at least 26 student visa holders<\/a> have been arrested on terrorism charges since 9\/11.<\/p>\n The F-1 visa is back in the news. Yahya Farooq Mohammad<\/a>, a native of India, entered the United States on a student visa. From 2002 to 2004, he was enrolled in an engineering program at Ohio State University. He then obtained a green card when he married a U.S. citizen. He recently pleaded guilty<\/a> to terror financing charges and conspiring to kill the judge presiding over his trial.<\/p>\n Mohammad\u2019s case illustrates the problems associated with the student visa program. Individuals wishing to study in the U.S. are subject to minimal vetting when they apply for visas.\u00a0 Once in the United States, they undergo virtually no supervision by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In fact, ICE delegates this responsibility to schools enrolling international students and simply monitors student records submitted online.<\/p>\n