Student Visas from Muslim Countries on the Rise, 127K Last Year

Daniel Horowitz writes in Conservative Review:

How many more potential Islamic terrorists like Mohammad Youssef Adbulazeer are living freely in this country?  And to what extent is our political class going to continue their suicidal policies?

Several months ago, we estimated that roughly 1.62 million individuals from predominantly Muslim countries have emigrated here since 9/11.  We counted all of the green cards issued to foreign nationals of 43 countries with either near-100% Muslim population or an overwhelming majority of Muslims.  While some of these individuals are likely non-Muslims, we noted that it is a pretty fair estimate of the number of Muslim immigrants and coincides with the Pew estimate of 100,000 Muslim immigrants per year. 

A quick search and tally of the data at the IIE for the same 43 predominantly Muslim countries reveals that 127,332 student visas were granted to students from these same countries.  Our government does this every year and the trend is only growing.  That means that 14% of the annual student visas are from Muslim countries, an even higher share than immigrant visas relative to the total immigrant population.

By far, the largest number of visas come from Saudi Arabia (remember 9/11?), topping out at 53,919 for the last academic year.  As we noted last year, the Saudi government has unlimited funds to pay for their international students, and with no caps on F1 visas, they could theoretically send hundreds of thousands of students here every year. 

Iran has sent us over 10,000 foreign students as well.  What could go wrong?

Oh, and with Mohammad Youssef Adbulazeer on everyone’s mind, it’s important to note that we’ve admitted 7,288 foreign students from Kuwait for that same academic year.

No wonder Arabic is the fastest growing language on U.S. campuses.

Consider this thought for a moment: the college population is almost exclusively between the ages of 18-25.  Given that 36% of American Muslims under the age of 45 believe that violence against America can be justified as part of Global Jihad, what percentage of foreign students during the prime age for Jihad coming straight from the Middle East harbor the same sentiments?  In that sense, student visas from the Middle East and North Africa represent an even more direct security threat than immigrant visas. 

The rapid increase in Muslim foreign students should also raise concerns in the context of the growing push to bring in more “high skilled” STEM students and workers.  Liberals often blame Jihad on poverty and lack of a promising future for Muslim youth, but the reality is that many of these young Jihadis are smart and affluent with promising careers.  Just look at the lifestyle of the Chattanooga Jihadi and the fact that he held a degree in electrical engineering.  

A huge share of the international students from Muslim countries is enrolled in STEM fields, according to the data compiled by IIE.  Seventy-nine percent of Iranian students and 42% of Saudi students were enrolled in STEM programs.  So just remember when they discuss bringing in more STEM students and workers, there is a high likelihood we would be importing more security risks.

With this entire region embroiled in Islamic upheaval and the shocking success of the global cyber jihad in radicalizing Muslim youth, why in the world would we self-immolate and bring in so many potential security threats?