Coming To America

CBS News Reporter Charles Wolfson is a former Tel Aviv bureau chief for CBS News, who now covers the State Department.

Securing our borders and tracking foreigners who do enter the country understandably became a much higher priority for the government after the tragic events of 9/11. Existing guidelines were tightened and new rules were adopted to assure what President Bush called a policy of "Secure Borders, Open Doors." Applying for and receiving a visa from American embassies abroad has become a much more arduous process for many wishing to come to the U.S. as has the process for actually entering the country.

"We ought to know who's coming into our country, what they're coming in here for, where they are going, how long they're going to be here for and when they leave. Not unreasonable," said Secretary of State Colin Powell this week speaking at the Chamber of Commerce to a meeting on "Securing the Future of Travel and Tourism."

It is no secret there has been a high price to pay in several areas, including the increased difficulty many foreign business people, students, scientists and academics have had coming to meetings, professional conferences and planned study programs in the U.S.

James S. Langer, vice president of the National Academy of Sciences, said "Unfortunately, it is increasingly clear that the visa situation is a huge threat to American science and technology. Applications to many leading U.S. graduate schools from students in China, India, Russia and elsewhere are already down by 30 percent or more, and there is evidence these students are going elsewhere for advanced degrees. International scientific organizations ... are refusing to hold conferences here ... In short, American science is being isolated from the rest of the world."

Powell acknowledges the problem: "If we lose legitimate foreign scholars, if we lose them to procedural frustrations because it's too hard to get a visa, because they don't want to be bothered, because they're going to be hassled at the airport coming into the United States, we risk losing their goodwill, and that is a priceless thing to lose."

Things are getting better, Powell claims, as the visa and airport entry processes are refined, but it's clear some damage has been done. In the same week Powell spoke of improvements in the visa entry system, a press release protesting the current policy was issued by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine, which say they represent 95% of the U.S. research community. The co-sponsors call on the government to make additional changes in visa issuing policy to counteract what they call "the misperception that the United States does not welcome international students, scholars and scientists."

Beyond the concerns of the academic and scientific community, there are also huge economic ramifications to consider. Powell cited figures from last year that approximately 42 million foreign visitors spent $83 billion touring, working or studying in America. He said there are 7 million travel-related jobs here which contributed $157 billion in payroll income and over $93 billion in various tax revenue to the economy.

Another example of income lost is in the health sector. For example, many wealthy Saudis and other Persian Gulf Arabs come to the U.S. for medical treatment and they pay top dollar, usually bringing with them large retinues who stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and shop in suburban malls. One source who represents the government of Saudi Arabia estimated several billion dollars a year is being lost because it's now too difficult for Saudis to gain entry to the U.S. (It should be noted that Saudis face special scrutiny because 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.)

Secretary Powell knows there still is a problem, in part because he says he wants to hear about it. "Every major university president is now writing me letters at my invitation," he says. "Let me know how we are affecting your business. Give me anecdotes. As I heard earlier, people don't want to come here for a conference if they can go to London for a conference because it's easier. Oh, we've got to fix that. Don't want that to happen. I've got nothing against London; I would just prefer to have people come to the United States." That may be easier said than done.

"Secure Borders, Open Doors" is a nice sounding title for a policy which is trying to balance competing goals. Perhaps both can be achieved, but if it takes three weeks to get a student visa (down from two months), we shouldn't be too surprised if foreign students want to perfect their English in Australia or Canada. In the post-9/11 environment, the bottom line almost always will dictate that policymakers come down more on the side of secure borders than they will on open doors.

Charles M. Wolfson