t5 b44 student tracking 1 of 6 fdr- 1-6-04 outline- briefing materials- doc requests- interviews 118

8/14/2019 T5 B44 Student Tracking 1 of 6 Fdr- 1-6-04 Outline- Briefing Materials- Doc Requests- Interviews 118

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1/6/2004 8:45 AMTeam 5, Border Security and Foreign Visitors: FOR EIGN STUDEN T TRA CKIN G

Briefing Materials, Document Requests, and InterviewsI. What were the facts and circumstances of the 9/11 terrorist attack withrespect to our systems of imm igration, nonim migrant visas, and bordercontrols?

b. At the t ime of 9/11, what was the national framework - especiallyencompassing State, Justice/INS, and Treasury/Customs andintelligence agencies - governing entry and visits by foreign nationals soas to reduce U.S. accessibility to terrorists? Victim question: Why wasCIPRIS (foreign student tracking) no t implemented fully prior to 9/11 asrequired by law?

Briefing Materials (Background and Key Documents)Law U.S. law mandating the creation of a foreign student tracking system,P.L. 104-208, Section 641 (pages 162 (law) and 165 (appropriations)of JKR hearing record)Internal IN S Documents (JKR in possession while in Senate employ) DOJ/INS Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1/F-2/M-1/M-2) Student 9.26.94: Memorandum to Jamie Gorelick (DAG DOJ) from LouisFreeh (Director Office of Investigative Agency Policies) re improving

DOJ's law enforcem ent capabilities re aliens entry an d departuresfrom the U.S. 1.01.95: Memorandum on Receipt of Final Report of the Task Force

on Foreign Student Controls to HQADN Michael Aytes to Chris Sale,Deputy Com missioner through T .Alexander Aleinkoff, Exec Assoc.C omm' r fo r Programs and through L ouis Cro cetti, Jr., AssociateC omm' r fo r Examinations 5.11.95: Executive Summary to DOJ DAG from Commissioner IN Sre Immigration Controls on Foreign Students

9.26.95: Status Report on the Foreign Student Controls Task Force toAmy D. Jeffress, Special Assistant to DAG from Chris Sale, DeputyCommissioner INS (transmittal letter and report) 10.11.95: INS Comm issioner Doris Meissner 's Approval for StudentRegistration Initiative with discussion of key elements 12.22.95: Memorandum on Formal Report of the Task Force onForeign Student Controls to Michael Aytes from Maurice Berez, Task


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Force C oordinator through Yvonne Lafleur, Chief, NonimmigrantBranch HQA DN12.22.95: INS Final Report by the Task Force on Foreign StudentControls "Controls Governing Foreign Students: and Schools ThatAdmit Them" (served as roadmap for C IPRIS)5.13.96: L tr from IN S Adjudication Officer Rachel Figueroa-Colon toINS C hief of Business and Trade Services Branch Yvonne LaF leur reCIPRIS Task Force Leader M aurice Berez9.30.96: Public Law 104-208, Section 641: Program to CollectInformation Relating to Non imm igrant Foreign Students an d OtherExchange Program Recepients.9.97: W ashington Institute for Nea r East Policy , "U.S. Issuing Visasto Students from Terrorism-Supporting Countries in Middle East toStudy Weapons-Related Sciences9.26.97: www.ins.usdoi.gov/cipris/general.htm2.98: President's budget and fact sheets on implementing th ePresident's Immigration Initiative2.9.98: Email from Kenneth Kreutter to Mike Hatcher directing a stop-work on CIPRIS due to funding cuts2.19.98: Fax to Janice Kepha rt re "the imp ending death of a nationalCIPRIS-student tracking system"2.19.98: Ltr from Rep. Ch arles Schumer to Hon. Janet Reno re studentvisas and implem entation of CIPRIS3.31.98: Ltr from Sen.s Jo n Kyi an d Rick Santorum to Comm' r DorisM eissner re impleme ntation of CIPRIS (p. 176 JKR hearing record)7.16.98: L tr from Allen Erenbaum, D irector of CongressionalRelations, INS, to Sen. Jon Kyi re implem entation of CIPR IS andinviting staff for a demonstration.8.20.98: L tr from Comm'r Meissner to Sen. Jon Kyi reimplementation of CIPRIS (p . 177 JKR hearing record)8.21.98: CIPRIS briefing materials received by JKR at demonstration,with notes12.10.98: INS Memorandum on Coordinated Interagency partnershipregulating International Students (CIPRIS) for the DeputyCommissioner from Maurice Berez, Project Lead through ExecutiveAssociate Com m'r fo r Policy and Planning2.5.99: DO S M emorandum Deputy Assistant Secretary for VisaServices Nancy Sambaiew to CA/EX Frank Moses re CIPRISrequesting D O S support in maintaining CIPRIS timetable withsignature of M oses approving2.22.2000: Ltr from Sen. Spencer Abraham and 20 other Senators toDoris Meissner re INS Student Tracking system (postpone levy offees)


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Congressional documents 10.9.2001: U.S. House M emoran dum from Keith Ausbrook and BrianZimmer , Senior Investigators for House Judiciary Committee toMem bers, Subcomm ittee on Imm igration and Claim s re Subcomm ittee

Oversight Hearing on INS Information Technology 2.24.98: Relevant portions of Senate Judiciary Subcommittee onTerrorism, Technology, and Government Information 1998 hearingrecord: "Five Years After the World Trade Center: Foreign Terrorist

Operations in America" other relevant hearing s/staff reports or memosNonProfit Reports Dec.'99: Washington Institute for Near East Policy "TrackingStudents from Terrorism-Supporting M iddle-Eastern Countries: AnUpdate" by Benjamin OrbachArticles 1.8.97: DOJ/TNS "Request For Volunteers to Participate in a ForeignStudent/Exchange Visitor Program Pilot" [INS No. 1800-96] 3.9.98: U.S. News & World Report "American Colleges are

'Weapons U.' for Iraq; No one tracks thousands of students fromterrorism sponsoring countries" (mentions CIPRIS) by DouglasPasternak Summer 1997: International Educator "Trial Balloon or TrojanHorse? For CIPRIS Pilot Schools the Future Is Now" by Kyna Rubin 9.19.97: Chronicle of Higher Education "A Close Watch on ForeignStudents: U.S. Tests a New System That C ritics Call Orwellian" byAmy RubinBriefers Louis Freeh, on the need for a foreign student tracking system. Jamie G orelick, on the mandate given to INS to look into need, andsubsequent guidance given by m ain DO J D oris Meissner, on initial approval of Task Force plan and subsequentdismantling of project Morrie Berez, head of Task Force, on timeline of project, supportwithin INS for project, and comparison of attributes of CIPRIS w ith

SEVISDocument Requests All above listed documents and other relevant Organization charts INS/Main Justice 1995-2002 Organization of DHS/BICE 2003


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DOJ/IG interview notes on its foreign student tracking report

Interviews Then White House NSC staffer Dan Benjamin , on briefing received onCIPRIS in . Then Chris Sales, IN S Ass't Comm'r , on her interaction with project Then Mary Anne W yrsch, IN S Ass't Comm'r , on her interaction withproject Then Robert Bach, Exec Assoc C o m m ' r Policy and Planning Then George Bohlinger, Executive Associiate Com missioner fo rManagement Then M orrie Berez, head of Task Force, on timeline of project, supportwithin INS for project, and comparison of attributes of CIPRIS withSEVIS Then Thomas Cook, Ass' t Com m'r fo r Adjudications Then Janice Jacobs, Director of Field Support an d Liaison Office ofVisa Service, Bureau of Consular Affairs, on value of project to StateDept. interests Greg Leonard, Boston University Director, International Students andScholars Office, on value of project 978-922-1822; 617-946-7308(cell) Then Dan Cadman, National Security Unit (student tracking,intelligence sharing, creation of counterterrorism unit); DoJ/IG: staff on creation of foreign student tracking report (whollyglosses over dism antlement of CIPR IS) Terry H artle, Sr. VP American C ouncil of Educators M arlene Johnson, Executive Director NA FSA William Paver, Texas-Austin 512-451-8809; 512-658-9446 John Smith, EDS consultant on CIPRIS pilot (knows allcharacteristics) 703-754-8896 Rich Tinneny, M idland Technical College 803-738-7764

c. Could the then existing imm igration and border security infrastructurehave iden tified or excluded some or all of the 9/11 terrorists, an d if so,wh at persons, agencies or systems failed, and/or wh at factors withinreach may have made a difference?

If CIPRIS had been in place prior to 9/11 (time frame, according toTask Force leader, would have fully implemented CIPRIS by early2000), Atta and would have been in the system identifiedas foreign students at flight schools. This information would have


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automatically been downloaded to U.S. intelligence, including CIA,DIA, and FBI. Instead, nothing was in place to aid identification.

II. Does th e current foreign national and border security framew orkreflect th e lessons learned from 9/11 and other fore ign terroristattacks, an d significa ntly reduce terrorist access to the U.S.?W hat is the impact of the various changes on the security of people andtechnology made since 9/11 with respect to the entry an d visits byforeign nationals?i. tracking: foreign students (SEVIS)Background materials

lawcreating S EVIS House Judiciary hearings on SEVIS Power point presentation on SEVIS DO J/IG report on SEVISBriefersTBD

Document RequestsTBD

InterviewsTBD

IV . What specific recomm endations would improve U.S. ability toprevent foreign terrorists from entering th e U.S. con sistent with othervital interests?

Scrap or revamp SEVIS to include key attributes which CIPRIS had.


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undated: "Nonimmigrant Foreign Student Program [A s Administered by INS]; Overviewof Non immigrant Foreign Student Program"undated: Power point on SEVIS