International students will be facing tighter security measures when visiting the United States due to the recent Boston Marathon bombings, the BBC News reports.
The recent Boston Marathon bombings have led the US to the move which now has the border agents automatically checking the visa status of every student who enters, according to the BBC. The change is primarily the result of a student from Kazakhstan who was accused by police of hiding evidence for one of the bomb suspects, the BBC also reports. The new outlet also reports his visa was not valid upon his re-entrance.
According to the BBC News, Azamat Tazhayakov was dismissed from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on January 4 but was able to gain access back into the United States on January 20.
The new security measures will have border agents verifying a student’s visa status before the person arrives in the US — instead of only verifying that status if the person was referred to a second officer for additional inspection or questioning, the BCC reports.
Tazhayakov was not sent to a second officer when he arrived, because there was no information to indicate he was a national security threat, Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told the BBC.
The BBC reports that Tazhayakov and another man, Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, obstructed an FBI investigation when the pair removed items from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dormitory room at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, three days after the blasts, including a backpack filled with fireworks remains.
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