The Patriot Act :: Terrorism Terrorist International Education Essay

The Patriot Act As the nation watched in horror the atrocities of September 11th, Nassim Benamara watched his future slip away from him. " I was very worried, because I was supposed to start school a week later in Boston, and I did not know if I could still come to Boston," he said. Two weeks later, he boarded a plane from Algiers, Algeria, with his twin brother Saleem, to attend school here. Three years later, Saleem and Nassim have still not made it back to their home country. â€Å"We hear a lot of stories of international students who go home for vacation, and when they come back they are not let back into the country. We do not want to risk this, so we don't go home ever," Saleem said. Such stories are the result of the unpopular Patriot Act, which was passed on October 26th, 2001, just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. President Bush then declared that the act was necessary, to make sure that every so-called â€Å"international student† was in fact attending school. Among the components of the act, the Patriot Act greatly restrains international students in their rights. All their medical, library and school files are available to various agencies, including the CIA, FBI and INS. The school files are part of an online database accessible only to those three agencies, named "SEVIS," or "Student and Exchange Visitor Information System". All schools in the United States with foreign students had to turn over those files by August of last year, or risk a penalty. With just a click of the button, anyone at the INS can find out the student's grades, classes, the address, and much more. Many organizations, such as the ACLU, were quick to denounce the Patriot Act, and the SEVIS registration, as un-democratic. Yet, in this era of terrorism, safety can come at a high risk, David Chanderlain said. As the head of the International Student Office at Northeastern University, it is his job to make sure that all international students are up to date with the new SEVIS forms, that they're taking enough classes, and much more. "Many people don't agree with the Patriot Act, but right now it's necessary," he said. Salim and Nassem agreed with him. "I don't like to have my home searched, I don't like to be treated like a terrorist, but I understand why they do it. It is for my safety too, and there is not much I can do.