News in Brief: A Washington Roundup

Students who live in Tijuana or Ciudad Juarez in Mexico would be allowed to legally attend colleges full time or part time in San Diego or El Paso, under federal legislation that has passed Congress and awaits action by the White House.

The legislation would create two new visa classifications for Mexican and Canadian "border commuter" students going to U.S. colleges and universities on a part-time, daily basis. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Jim Kolbe, R- Ariz., passed the House on Oct. 15 and the Senate a day later.

Currently, Mexican and Canadian college students are allowed to attend college in the United States only with F-1 visas, for full-time study, or M-1 visas, for vocational study. Part-time study has been forbidden—although that law was only sporadically enforced, and many foreign students crossed the border to attend college. The Immigration and Naturalization Service initially vowed to crack down on part-time students after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last year, but then issued a ruling in August allowing commuter study...