Maria Cantwell: “I am joining today with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to introduce the Border Commuter Student Act of 2002. In my State…”

“I am joining today with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to introduce the Border Commuter Student Act of 2002. In my State and many other States along our borders, Canadian and Mexican students take advantage of our excellent community colleges and vocational schools. For many years, this system has worked well, providing economic benefits to the schools and to the surrounding communities while also helping Mexican and Canadian students to benefit from educational opportunities in this country. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this is a system that has worked well for both Canadian students and the local communities the Immigration and Naturalization, INS, recently decided to begin enforcing a 50-year-old law that prohibits those students from attending U.S. schools on a part-time basis. As of August 15, students will no longer be allowed to cross the Canadian border to attend classes at Bellingham Technical College. This will result in a significant loss of funds for Bellingham Technical College and the surrounding community in Whatcom County which is already suffering from severely reduced border traffic in the wake of September 11 and the economic downturn in the State as a whole.”