It is illogical to punish people who follow laws set up by the government. Legal immigrants are the people who follow those rules. They fill out the forms and wait for permission to enter the country. And yet it is these same law abiding people, people who attend and work at SIU, who are being targeted by Congress.

There are two bills, a House bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and a Senate bill proposed by Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo.

While there are other portions of the bills that are objectionable, two provisions, a required tracking system payed for by a tax on non-immigrant student visas and a requirement for checking immigrant status, would do the most harm to SIU international students and the University.

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The bill in the U.S. House would tax non-immigrant students $100 to establish a tracking system. The University would monitor the student’s enrollment, current address and whether the student is making normal progress. This information is to be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Both bills would require verification of legal immigrant status by a business or University before hiring or admitting an individual through the use of a 1-800 number.

Essentially, SIU International Programs and Services advisers would become an arm of the immigration service, losing a degree of trust that is essential for a beneficial adviser/student relationship.

Add to this the fact SIU has had a drop in international student enrollment of 17 percent from 1991 to 1995. Increased competition from overseas institutions is one of the reasons cited for the University’s declining international student population by International Programs and Services.

Now with an additional requirement of $100 and the ominous word tracking hanging over admission to the University, it is not a great leap to see SIU losing more students to institutions in other countries.

Besides the additional fees and tracking, the bills call for a nationwide 1-800 number to check immigrant’s legal status before college admittance or hiring.

There are 65 million new hirings every year in the United States. That is a lot of phone calls. The database used to check the immigrant’s status comes from Immigration and Naturalization Service data and Social Security Administration data. Both departments have admitted to having databases as inaccurate as 20 percent in the past.

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These inaccurate databases open the door to possible lawsuits against businesses because of inaccurate data supplied by the government. Paul Zulkie, a member of the board of directors for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said there is work underway to shield businesses from such lawsuits if the bills are passed. But said has doubts as to whether providing that shield is possible.

Illegal immigration is a problem in

the United States. It is a problem that requires attention. This makes the Congress’ misguided attempts at legal immigration reform all the more perplexing. These are the immigrants that help this country economically and culturally. They, and SIU, should not be penalized for that.