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Subj: Reaction to Borderline Insanity (fwd)Date: [ 4/8/2003 12:04:58 PMEastern Daylight TimeFrom:To: ^File: winmail.dat (55616 bytes) DL Time (45333 bps): < 1 minuteSent from the Internet

Janice....amongst the people whowill give.you hard hitting factsandstatements, would include J. Greg Leonard; recently retired from being Directorat Boston University of the students/scholarsprogram...as you'll see from hismessage last year in response to the article "Borderline Insanity" in the May2002 Washington Monthly, he iswilling to go on the record with some things tosay about the failures instudent tracking.etc....\thanks, MorrieForwarded Message: -From: "J. Greg Leonard"I J>To: "SEVISList (Newfront Software)" Subject: Borderline InsanityDate: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 09:12:50 -0400For those of you interested - and everysingle NAFSA member should be veryinterested - in understanding the politicsof CIPRIS/SEVIS development andhow we got to where we are today, I offer the following article. If you arenot interested, please delete this message. I received it late yesterdayafternoon from CatherynCotton, Director of the International Office at DukeUniversity Medical Center, via anumber of closed e-mail discussion lists.My messageand the article are not short. Print them out and read them athome tonight, if you wish.Having observed thepolitics of CIPRIS/SEVIS from the inside, as a member ofthe CIPRIS Federal InteragencyTask Force which conceivedof electronicreporting/monitoring and developed the CIPRIS Pilot Program, and as theformer Director of InternationalStudent andScholar Services at theUniversity ofAlabama, which participated in the CIPRIS Pilot Program, I cantell you that this article was researched very thoroughly and isstartlinglyaccurate.Thereare, however, three things which this article did not adequatelyaddress, in my opinion.The first isNAFSA's internal political maneuvering which restructured themuch-revered andhighly effective Government RegulationsAdvisory Committee(GRAC) into oblivion and made it possible for a small group of NAFSA leadersand staff toco-opt Association advocacyand federal agency liaison from thegrassroots membership. This made it possible for NAFSA to develop and carryout a policy of fighting against electronic reporting andmonitoring,through both overt and covert actions. The Association's clear goal was tosabotage the effort through any means possible, and kill it.The second is how I andothers on theTask Force literally begged NAFSA toprovide input on and assistance with the project, and were rejected at everyturn. We askedfor technical input and assistance from MicroSIG, NAFSA'sMicrocomputer Special Interests Group which is now knownas theTechnologySIG {TECH SIG), even offering to help NAFSA develop the computer softwarewhich would be needed for the CIPRIS Pilot Program and possibly even thenational rollout. We askedfor input andassistance from NAFSA's

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Professional Development Program to develop a training program specificallydesigned for Designated School O fficials (DSO s) and to becom e the firstINS-authorized DSO training program. I can give many other examples ofNAFSA rejections of our invitations to provide input and assistance.Th e third is the benefits we all lost. Whe n the SEVP regulations arepublished, look for DSO-authorized Optional Practical Training OPT), modeledafter DSO -authorized Curricular Practical Training. If we couldn't win theinternal INS political battle to get that in the regulations, our fall-backposition was DSO interim employment authorization for the first four m onthsof OPT. That would buy all F-1 students sufficient time for an INS ServiceCenter to process the OPT Employment Authorization Card if more than fourmonths of work was desired. When the regulations are published, look forthe secure Student and Exchange Visitor Card, which would wo rk like anINSPASS (INS Passenger Accelerated Service System), facilitating U.S. entryand exit, and facilitating visa re-issuance . In the new regulations, lookfor the "dedicated" Student/School (ST/SC) INS O fficers, one in every INSDistrict Office (DO) and two or m ore in the larger DOs, and look for thetwo-to-three dedicated ST/SC Officers at each Service Center, assisted bytwo-to-three dedicated ST/SC Information Officers. In the new regulations,look for requirements that schools provide ade quate staff and support forinternational student service offices, and adequate training for DSO s. Lookfor a training requirement, w hich was planned to eventually (after a fewyears) lead to DSO certification by the INS through INS-authorized trainingand certifying en tities (we wanted NAFSA to be the first and foremost ofsuch entities). What would that have done for us and our profession!Enough. I could go on and on about bene fits we had built into the systemwhich are almost certainly lost.From personal knowledge and experience, I can tell you that if Morrie Berezhad not been forcibly removed from INS leadership of this undertaking (and Iblame both NAFSA and INS in equal me asure for this occurrence) and if CIPRIShad been developed as o riginally e nvisioned by the Task Force, there existsa very real possibility that up to three of the 09/11 terrorists could havebeen identified by C IPRIS prior to the attacks and a remote but inescapablepossibility that one or more of the attacks, themselves, could have beenprevented.This is the first time the "real story" of CIPRIS and SEVIS has ever beenmade public. Personally, I believe this accounting ha s been long overdue,especially for all of you out there in the field who have been affected bythe behind-the-scenes political gam es which were p layed, and are still beingplayed, over electronic reporting an d monitoring.I am glad this story is finally coming out. I have felt pe rsonal guilt atnot being able to more positively affect developments since GRAC wasabolished, since Morrie Berez was forcibly removed from CIPRIS leadership,and since, as a result of his removal, the CIPRIS Task Force was disbanded.Maybe one of these days I can move on and leave this behind m e.I close with a salute to Morrie Berez. A profound an d amazing person. Arenegade within an incredible gove rnment bureaucracy. A person who couldunderstand, appreciate, and balance legitimate government interests with theequally legitimate interests of international educational exchange. A manwh o had the foresight to know that he was de veloping a system which could,in the end, protect genuine international students. And last but not least,

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Page 3 o f 99/11 Personal Privacysomeone who has become a good friend.

Greg Leonard

J. Greg Leonard, DirectorInternational Students and Scholars OfficeBoston University19 Deerfield Street, Suite 203Boston, MA \02215Telephonb: (617)358-0669 - DirectTelephone: (617) 353-3565 - ReceptionFacsimile: (617^ 358-1170

E-Mail: | j

Every Issue of The Monthly to your door: Subscribe OnlineRespond to this Article Washington Monthly Home Page May 2002Borderline InsanityPresident Bush wants the INS to stop granting visas to terrorists. Thebiggest obstacle? His own administration.By Nicholas Confessore

Exactly six months after Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi had flown planesinto the World Trade Center, letters from the Immigration and NaturalizationService (INS) arrived at a Florida flight school informing these twolatevery latestudents that their visas had been approved. The incidentseemed to capture perfectly the unfathomable ineptitude of an agency longunable to control illegal immigration but now supposed to be the front lineof the domestic war on terrorism.Among those most furious was President George W. Bush. "I was stunned andnot happy," the president told reporters at a press conference. "I couldbarely get my coffee down." W ithin days, Bush's anger cascaded down throughthe federal bureaucracy. Attorney General John Ashcroft blasted"professional incompetence" for the "disturbing failure." INS commissionerJames Ziglar called it an "inexcusable blunder" and promptly reassigned fourtop INSofficials to "begin the process of accountability." And theDepartment of Justice Inspector General promised to report exactly what hadhappened. But why wait? Insiders already know what happened, and thepresident ought to hear the truth right away, though probably not while he'ssipping hot coffee.The good news for Bushwho loves nothing more than to blame Bill Clintonfor everythingis that at least half the responsibility for the screw-uplies with the previous administration. In the mid 1990s, the Clintonadministration initiated, then let die, a revolutionary computer visa systemthat could have prevented Atta and Al-Shehhi from getting their studentvisas, and might even have uncovered their conspiracy before September 11came to pass. The bad news for Bush (and the rest of us) is that some of the

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