WASHINGTON, Oct 30: The Bush administration announced late on Monday that it would tighten immigration laws and requirements for student visas and named a task force to track “foreign terrorists”.

The new measures came on a day when the government issued a new alert, warning of the threat of more terrorist attacks against US targets here and abroad. The warning, like the one issued on Oct 11, lacked specificity, but added to the general sense of apprehension among Americans.

The discovery of anthrax traces in buildings housing the State Department and the Voice of America lent a further grim edge to news coming out from official sources on Monday.

President George Bush has singled out student visas for tighter scrutiny, saying: “We’re going to start asking a lot of questions that heretofore have not been asked.” He said some of those on student visas never attended classes. Sixteen of the 19 alleged terrorists involved in the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington were said to have been in the United States on legal visas. One of the them had a student visa, although he was not enrolled in any school or college.

The latest moves come in the wake of a stiff anti-terrorism bill signed into law last week that significantly enhanced the powers of the law-enforcement agencies to detain suspects and carry out surveillance of people.

The overall impact of these measures is bound to increase the feeling of insecurity among people of foreign origin resident in the US who have already complained of heightened racial profiling. Some 2,000 Pakistanis are believed to be in detention of the immigration and naturalization authorities or other agencies, held as part of a sweep of immigrants throughout the country.

One Pakistani, Muhmmaad Rafiq Butt, who was picked up by the FBI in New Jersey and then detained in a jail there on the orders of the immigration authorities, was found dead on Oct 23. The cause of death was listed as a pre-existing heart condition, but the victim had no previous history of heart disease.

The fresh restrictions on visas and immigration will include the use of sophisticated technology such as instant finger-printing and hand-imaging. Mr Bush said on Monday he believed the “vast majority of people who have come to America are really good, decent people — people that we are proud to have here. There are some who are evil and our job now is to find the evil ones and to bring them to justice”.

Among key features of the new directive issued by President Bush are the following:

— Creates a Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force: The task force will coordinate federal programmes designed to: (1) deny entry into the US of aliens associated with, suspected of being engaged in or supporting terrorist activity; and (2) locate, detain, prosecute, or deport any such aliens already present in the US. The task force will be established by the attorney-general by November 1. Experts from the state department, FBI, INS, secret service, customs service and the intelligence community will serve on the task force.

— Orders a thorough review of student visa policies: International students add greatly to the vitality and quality of our nation’s colleges, universities and other institutions of learning. The presidential directive orders the secretary of state and the attorney-general — working with the secretary of education, secretary of defence, secretary of energy, and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) — to institute tighter controls and ensure that student visas are being issued appropriately. A goal of the programme is to prohibit the education and training of foreign nationals who would use their training to harm the United States and its allies.

— Better coordinates immigration and customs policies with Canada and Mexico: Millions of people and billions of dollars of goods move legally between the United States, Canada and Mexico each year. The United States seeks to deny potential terrorists easy entry into the country from Canada or Mexico, while ensuring that legal travel and commerce continues with minimal border restrictions. The directive orders the secretaries of state and treasury and the attorney-general to increase the sharing of customs and immigration information with Canada and Mexico, and work with our neighbours to develop a shared immigration and customs control database. These efforts will ensure the maximum possible compatibility of immigration, customs and visa policies.