LOS ANGELES, Aug 8: The United States is witnessing a sharp drop in the number of H1B working visas and student F1 visas in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks and a slowdown in the economy.

However, the drop is becoming a serious issue for the American universities and colleges, which thrive on foreign students.

The most alarming is the situation of community colleges, which get a major chunk of their resources from foreign students.

On Wednesday, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reported that only 60,500 H1B working visas have been issued from Oct 1 last year to June 30 this year. A total of 130,000 visas were issued in the previous corresponding period _ a drop of 50 per cent.

The slowdown amply shows the pathetic state of the US economy, where a recent survey by a private group showed 5,000 layoffs a day in just the Bay Area of California, popularly known as the Silicon Valley.

However, the computer industry still ranks as the first in attracting H1B workers followed by healthcare staff, mainly nurses.

On the other hand, the education institutions are also witnessing a sharp decline ranging from 40 to -50 per cent.

Just take the example of Irvine Valley College (IVC) in California, which is one of the most popular college among foreign, particularly Arab and Muslim, students in the whole of southern California.

The college has seen a decline of over 50 per cent in applications.

The June-July summer season is the peak period for admissions as the fall session starts in August and early September in all American universities and colleges.

Last year, two Pakistani students were hauled up from the college and deported to Pakistan on alleged visa violation as both of them were working on student visas.

One of the student’s case came to the knowledge of the INS as he had incidentally arrived on Sept 6 last year from Saudi Arabia after visiting his parents there.

After Sept 11, federal agents had made a point to profile everyone who came soon after and before Sept 11 from the Middle East.

“Haider (the student concerned) was innocent. His only mistake was that he was working. I know him very well,” said a Pakistani student.

Haider got a lot of publicity in newspapers, with LA Times describing him as having a close link with terrorists.

“In many cases, it is the parents, rather than the students, who are increasingly reluctant to send their children to study here in the United States,” says Jojo, who goes by one name, Director admissions at Chapman University, City of Orange (CA), one of the five most prestigious universities on the West Coast.

Chapman has witnessed almost a 100 per cent decline in student applications from the Middle East.

There is real harassment and that is what is frightening away students. Many Muslim and Arab students this year at the University of California, Berkeley, reported harassment at the hands of their fellow students after being approached by legal officials in the wake of the anthrax scare.

“The main reason, however, for less enthusiasm for studying abroad stems from the real sense of harassment Arab and Muslim students in general have felt about the number of random searches they have been subjected to in airports and other ports of entry,” said Michelle Munro, Assistant Director of admissions at the American Intercontinental University, Los Angeles.