U-of-I official says Homeland Security Department could generate more red tape for foreign students

The director of International Programs at the University of Iowa fears a sea of red tape in dealing with the new federal agency replacing the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Diana Davies says the new Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services is already threatening to further restrict visitors to the U-S, including scholars in the SEVIS program, or the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.Davies says more than 50 students who were trying to come to the U-of-I to study last fall were denied visas. She says under the new programs, it’s unclear how many more students will miss out on the opportunity to get an Iowa education, as he says students who’re withheld for security reasons are not revealed due to security concerns. Davies says there has been very little fluctuation in the number of international students attending the U-of-I since the terrorist attacks of nine-eleven and the subsequent crack-downs on foreign visitors. The U-of-I is now home to about 18-hundred international students from nearly one-hundred nations.