The Senate Judiciary Committee debated on few amendments on Tuesday and amended the Senate immigration reform bill. Amendments that would close the loopholes in student visa programs were adopted and according to an amendment filed by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), US Customs and Border Protection officials would be notified by the US Department of Homeland Security when visas of foreign students expire. Likewise, information about the foreign students would be transferred into the databases of CBP. This amendment that was adopted is related to the Boston bombings. The current system permits foreign students to stay back in the United States for 30 days after the expiration of their visas.
One of the students who has been accused of bombings was granted entry into the United States, though his visa was invalid. That is because the immigration law of the country permits students to stay back in America for a month even after the expiration of their visas. Information related to this student who has been accused was not available and he did not register to school prior to leaving the country. This bombing incident took place in April and that was when the Senators unveiled their immigration reform bill.
This incident made Senator Chuck Grassley to file an amendment that would close the loopholes in the system and Senator Chuck Grassley’s amendment was adopted by the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee stated that it is mandatory to have a more stringent system that would protect the country and its people. As this student visa amendment has been added to the Gang of Eight’s immigration reform bill, data from the SEVIS system would be transferred to the CBP officers at the US ports of entry, as soon as the bill is signed into law.
More than 300 amendments were filed to the immigration reform bill of the Senators. 24 out of the 38 amendments that were considered were adopted by the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and the committee adopted 21 amendments in the last week. Amendments that would create more strict penalties for US universities and institutions that involve in visa fraud, were also adopted. The Committee will meet again today and it would consider Title III of the Senate immigration reform bill, that deals with E-Verify after completing its work on Title IV.