For months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been working with a view to bring reforms to the system, according to a department official. The student visa reform would make sure that the US Customs and Border Patrol officials get real-time updates on any relevant information regarding any student.
The issue came under scrutiny after a Kazak citizen, Azamat Tazhayakov, who’s also a friend of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, re-entered the US earlier this year on January 20 with an invalid visa. His visa status was invalid from January 4, 2013 after he failed to attend classes at the university.
When Azamat re-entered, the Customs and Border Patrol did not get any notification of his departure from the school. There was also no information suggesting that Azamat was a threat to the national security or to the public in general.
