Federal immigration officials are pushing to increase oversight of foreign exchange students, speeding entry for legitimate applicants but also cracking down on those who overstay their visas, The Boston Globe reports.  The efforts include doubling the number of investigators assigned to track students and their respective schools, as well as increasing fees charged to students and participating schools, doubling the total collected to $119 million annually.  

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement head Julie Myers said the measure is aimed at bolstering national security.  "Unfortunately, some people who’ve done some very bad things have been people who have exploited the student visa system," she said after a conference.  "It’s critical for the American people and the Congress to know that we take violations of the student visa process seriously."  Since the federal foreign exchange program began, ICE officials have arrested an average of 635 student violators a year.  

With the new fee proposal, foreign students would now have to pay a one-time fee of $200, up from $100; participating schools that are now charged $350 would pay $1,700.  If approved, the proposed initiative would take effect Oct. 1, 2008.  

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Department of Homeland Security officials announced this month that they plan to allow temporary legal status for undocumented immigrants whose spouses or parents died on 9/11, a step the families’ supporters called a breakthrough in the efforts to allow them to remain permanently in the United States .  According to The New York Times, lawyers for the immigrants said the decision would help to clear a political logjam that has stalled bill in Congress that would grant the immigrants permanent legal status.   

"For the first time there is a program for these widows and widowers and orphans to change from being undocumented to having a legal presence in the United States ," said Debra Brown Steinberg, a lawyer representing several of the immigrants.  "It will allow them to take their place with the other 9/11 families, by showing that they have faces and names."  The measure, prompted by a request by Ms. Steinberg for help from immigration officials in resolving the legislative impasse, affects about two dozen immediate family members of 9/11 victims whose citizenship status has been in limbo since the attacks.  Their spouses, including those who were themselves undocumented immigrants, were listed by name as heroes on memorial rosters of the victims.  The families received payments from the Victim Compensation Fund.  Despite this, they have lived in uncertainty and fear of deportation, their lawyers said, and could not easily invest the compensation payments because they lacked Social Security numbers and valid identification.   

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US Citizenship and Immigration Services has opened a new field office this month in Durham NC , The News & Observer of Raleigh reports.  The office opened in order to make it convenient for residents of Eastern North Carolina who are trying to become citizens or be declared permanent residents. Until now, applicants have had to travel to Charlotte at least twice: once for fingerprinting and again for an interview with an immigration agent.   

"It’s been horrible," said Ann Robertson, a Raleigh lawyer and Secretary of the Carolinas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.  "For some of my clients in northeastern North Carolina , it takes seven hours to drive to Charlotte ."  Robertson said the citizenship office was placed in Charlotte to serve both North Carolina and South Carolina , when neither state had many immigrants.   

Ana Santiago, ICE’s southeast spokeswoman, said North Carolina ’s immigrant population increased 274 percent during the 1990’s, with Latinos accounting for 27 percent of the state’s growth.  North Carolina also has fast-growing Indian and Vietnamese populations, Santiago said, adding that the state currently has over 430,000 foreign-born residents.  

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The Travel Industry Association states that,  harsher entry regulations and the negative perception held by other countries have caused international travel to the US   to decrease substantially, American Business City Journals reports.  Though international travel worldwide has risen by over 30 percent since 2000, the number of international visitors to the US has seen a decrease of 2 million visitors since 2000; according to a 2007 estimate, 24 million foreigners visited the US in that year.   

Travel Industry Association conducted a study that found that what sours potential visitors the most is going through immigration.  Since the September 11 attacks, Department of Homeland Security has continuously increased the number of items required for entry, as well as enforcing stricter standards and costs associated with compliance.