Missing Muslim "students" present greater threats than scholastic ennui. Have we learned nothing from recent tragedies? Or are we so entrenched in political correctness that we are lulled into a malaise while western civilization is threatened?
The last of the missing Egyptian students have been apprehended. Eleven exchange students who failed to show up for their college classes were not hauled to lessons by their collars, in tow of truant officers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were the arresting agents of two absentee students in Virginia, two others in New Jersey, one in Minnesota on an "administrative immigration violation as an out-of-status student." Other no-show scholars were arrested in Maryland and Iowa. One was picked up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
These "students" were part of a group of seventeen arriving in New York in July to attend a program in English and U.S. History and Culture at Montana State University. Only six reported to the school in time to begin studies. News accounts report the FBI's bland assessment: "None of the students were considered a terrorism risk." Really? Appropriate questions to ask begin with "Why?"
Why should these men so quickly be absolved of posing any threat when they clearly were not doing what they were ostensibly here to do?
Why, just scant years since September 11, 2001, and the more recent train and subway bombings in Spain and London, is it still considered ill-mannered or politically incorrect to profile such men? What profile did the recent British trans-Atlantic airline plotters of one of the potentially greatest single-incident terrorist crimes in history fit? Or the fanatics who commandeered hijacked American airliners they flew into crowded skyscrapers on that clear autumn morning? The common denominator is they were all Muslim males—Egyptian, Saudi or Pakistani.
The biggest "why" is perhaps the most significant:
Why do our universities continue to beckon to our shores Middle Eastern students, who mysteriously disappear or end up committing atrocious crimes? The old line about following the money applies. Those in our country on student visas bring more than eager minds. They are often accompanied by swollen billfolds and endowments to the hosting schools. Next to high revenue producing athletic programs, these students are worth their weight in gold. Maybe.
Saudi Arabia began endowments in 1976, with $1million gifted to the University of Southern California to fund a chair in Islamic studies, establishing an autonomous Middle East Center, selecting its own faculty and curriculum. It boasts a school in "specialized journalism," covering Islam and Muslims in America. Israel was presented as an international outlaw.
Islamic and Arab studies centers have been established, along with generous scholarship programs, at numerous universities receiving high-dollar funding. Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, terrorism expert, legal scholar, economist, and consultant to Defense and State Departments, details the following:
University of Arkansas $20 million to fund The King Fahd Center
for Middle East & Islamic Studies
Cornell $11 million
Georgetown $8.1 million
Rutgers, Columbia, and US Berkeley $5 million each
Harvard $2.5 million
Texas A&M $1.5 million
Princeton $1 million
Substantial sums have been given to UC-Santa Barbara, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Rice University, American University, University of Chicago, Syracuse University, UCLA, and Howard University.
According to a New York Times article, foreign students contribute over $13 billion dollars to the U.S. economy yearly. What portion of that chunk-of-change is donated directly to American universities is unclear. It is safe to say that restrictions on immigration policies implemented due to national security concerns, including student visas, are not looked upon favorably either by the universities or the Middle Eastern community.
Noting Arab and Muslim student decreases immediately after the Twin Towers horror, Aljazeera News Global reported, "Students are suffering from the fallout of the 11 September 2001 attacks." Ban Al-Wardi, an immigration lawyer and chair of the Los Angeles/Orange County Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, declared, "It's not a matter of security. These laws are racist, plain and simple."
However, the government of Great Britain, clearly tired of being in the crosshairs, plans to introduce a screening system allowing security agents to engage in passenger profiling; selecting passengers with unusual travel patterns, suspicious behavior, or most controversially, targeting young men of certain ethnic or religious heritage. In anticipation of this new order, the British Muslim community has already expressed outrage, since its members would be cited for additional scrutiny.
Apparently American ire has dissipated to the point that we are once again amenable to allowing foreign students to travel at will, regardless of whether they arrive at their destination in time for class, their student visas have expired or their status is in question. Have we learned nothing from the 9/11 scenario, where lax policies allowed vicious terrorists to routinely be granted waivers, take flight instruction, and finally gain approval of their status, months after their victims had been massacred and the perpetrators were enjoying seventy-two virgins in the afterlife?
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