Recent tightening of US Immigration laws will prevent Bermudians from studying in American public schools.

The Royal Gazette has learned that the US has banned foreign citizens from attending its public elementary schools.

And foreign students will only be able to attend US public high schools for a year, providing they have a student visa and pay tuition.

It is not known how many students will be effected by the new law.

But according to statistics from the Education Department, more than 100 Bermudians attend primary and high schools in the US. And only 31 of them were expected to have completed their studies by this summer.

One concerned mother, who did not want to be identified, told The Royal Gazette : "This is going to effect a lot of Bermudians. I know of ten children, including my child that it is going to effect.'' Having attended a public school in the US, the mother said she found the experience rewarding. And she said she decided to send her daughter overseas to school because she believed it would help her to mature faster.

Her daughter, who initially attended a local public high school, was doing very well overseas, she added.

But she said she did not know what she would do now since her daughter was only in a US school via sponsorship by a US family. And she said she was concerned for other students in the same situation who may not be aware of the changes.

"Where are they going to go?,'' she said. "They can't get into the private schools here.'' When contacted US Consul Edmund Leather stressed that changes to the Immigration law, which were passed last Fall and went into affect this Spring, will not impact college students or anyone in US private schools.

But he explained that foreign students in the US on F1 student visas with I-20s (forms issued by the schools they plan to attend which allows them to obtain the student visa) will no longer be allowed to attend elementary public schools. "For secondary schools, the I-20s will be issued for one year only and only if they pay tuition to the public school,'' Mr. Leather added. "And the school year 96/97 is counted as one year.

"So if they were there in 1996/97, they don't have another year. They cannot go into public high school again even on an I-20. They can go to a private school.'' Mr. Leather said the law was changed because "it seems that many foreigners were coming to the United States and getting free education. And Congress decided that was costing the American taxpayers''.

And while he did not know how many Bermudians were attending public school in the US, Mr. Leather said: "US Immigration are checking. And if students are going back, they will not be able to go back on an I-20.'' Education Minister Jerome Dill said he had discussed the issue briefly with US Consul General Robert Farmer who was off the Island yesterday.

"I will certainly meet with him when he gets back and if there is new information that the public needs to be aware of, we will certainly make a joint statement,'' Mr. Dill said.

"I would be concerned to ensure that Bermudian parents who had their children in the US studying under one of these types of arrangements were aware of the potential liability. Because the last thing we would want is for someone quite innocently to find that they are committing an offence.

"I am anxious to bring to the attention of Bermudian parents any potential situation which could render them in contravention of the US Immigration laws, because contravention of US Immigration laws always have long-term ramifications.'' However, Mr. Dill added that he had no doubt that students effected could find a place in the local public school system.

"There's no question in my mind that the numbers are not such that we could not just simply reintegrate them,'' he said. "We have an obligation to educate our people. Even if it was difficult, we have an obligation to do it and we would do it.''