What do you think? FBI background checks for middle east students?

[DREDIOCK]

What do you think? FBI background checks for middle east students?


Cant we just shoot them on sight instead?

[Odee]

Yeah, the application form DS-157 is pretty funny to read.  I  deal with diplomatic security on a daily basis, and the majority of them are pretty much a joke too.

Now if you want a laugh, try getting your employee badge renewed.  You start from square one again...  and this after 27 years of working for them.     Can't just go in with the soon to expire badge you have had for umpteen years, like pre-9-11 dayze anymore.

Oh the stories I could tell if you folks were cleared for them.

[Jackal1]

Check em........then eject them.

[lasersailor184]

Did you guys even bother to read the news article?

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
Did you guys even bother to read the news article?

I did.

Syed Maaz Shah, 20, a Pakistan native majoring in electrical engineering, was convicted of firing an Armalite M-15 assault weapon on two camping trips in January and March in a rural area near Willis, north of Houston.

After a three-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon in Houston, Mr. Shah was convicted on two counts of alien (which means he's here on a student visa) in possession of a firearm affecting interstate commerce.

Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, also in the U.S. on a student visa, was sentenced last week to 10 months in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm during the campouts.

Adnan Babar Mirza, a 29-year-old Pakistani native, is scheduled for trial in October on federal conspiracy and firearms charges.

A third co-defendant, Kobie Diallo Williams, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen, will be sentenced in October after his November 2006 guilty plea to conspiracy charges related to raising money for the Taliban and gun charges.

I agree, background checks SHOULD BE used, and if they are now, be even more thorough.

[IronDog]

There shouldn't be the need for a background check.If the USA would get it in their minds that any foreign student coming from a muslim country is a possible terror threat.therefore simply keep them out of the country.That being said,the USA will continue to allow terrorist into our country,and one day they will spring a attack that will make 911 look small!
ID

[AKIron]

A background check will never touch someone who wants to come into this country to do us harm. Why would a real terrorist submit to one when all he need do to go anywhere in this country is sneak over our border with Mexico like many thousands of people do every year?

[wooley]

Most (Western) Europeans can enter the US on the Visa Waiver program. That gives you 90 days. Any longer and you need a visa.

If you have any criminal record (e.g. a DUI, caution for possession of pot etc) you become ineligible for the visa waiver program and should apply for a visa and your local embassy. That's regardless of whether the offence has expired and been purged from your record at home. In theory, the US has access to the UK (and presumably other counties') criminal records to check this, but as most UK police forces can't put together a complete criminal history of a given person, the US authorities have no chance. In most cases, it is unlikely the checks ever take place and I know several people with minor offenses enter under the visa-waiver program without a problem.

The US VISIT stuff (finger printing and photographing) at the airports isn't that big a deal - most airports are pretty slick at the process and it really doesn't bother me. I have to admit it did piss me off to start with though, but hey - it your country, your rules.

And the end of the day though, as we all know - official legislation makes he-haw difference to the US's ability to keep out undesirables of any nature. I'm still here and my wife tells me I'm undesirable all the time...

[tedrbr]

Originally posted by Ripsnort
This story got me thinking...should Students who come to America from the Middle East (S.A., Jordan, etc. etc.) have background checks before student visas are issued?

Replying to the Thread, rather than commenting on the article, the process for doing background checks by the Government is currently overwhelmed already in trying to get Security Clearances for Government and Defense Contract Employees as it is.  Now you want to toss in background checks for students along with that?

From what the GAO put out earlier this month:

GAO: Yearlong wait for security clearances
By UPI
Monday, May 21, 2007, 08:13

"Year-long delays for issuing security clearances to U.S. contractors may boost security risks.

A report published Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that government contractors eligible for top security clearances had to wait an average of a year to start their work, and this delay has potential repercussions.

"An inexperienced investigative workforce, not fully using technology, and other causes underlie these delays. Delays may increase costs for contracts and risks to national security," states the report, a copy of which was provided to United Press International by the Federation of American Scientists.

With private contractors responsible for an ever-increasing portion of tasks through government agencies, investigations into the arrangements made with these individuals and private companies appear to be on the rise, often revealing security gaps.

GAO's analysis of 2,259 cases showed the process took an average of 446 days for initial clearances and 545 days for clearance updates. The government states that the application-submission phase should take 14 days or less, but the GAO found it took an average of 111 days.

The GAO found that statistics from the offices of the Department of Defense responsible for processing security clearance applications did not provide an accurate impression of the efficiency of the process.

On numerous occasions, the Pentagon granted top security clearances even in cases with unresolved concerns about the individual, the GAO said.

"In its review of 50 investigative reports for initial clearances, GAO found that almost all (47 of 50) cases were missing documentation required by federal investigative standards," the report states."

As things stand, it is not a practical thing to do, despite all the moral, legal, and ethical issues associated with it:  it  is  not  practical.  
There has been a problem with clearances for going on six years now.  No solution so far.