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Science Leaders Say Visa Restrictions Hurting Research
In a December 2002 statement, the presidents of the National Academies of Science—the body that advises the federal government on scientific and technical matters—warned that the government's recent efforts to constrain the flow of international visitors in the name of national security are having serious unintended consequences for American science, engineering, and medicine. The presidents explained that professional visits by foreign scientists and the training of highly qualified foreign students improve the vitality and quality of the U.S. research enterprise, which "in turn, underlies national security and the health and welfare of both our economy and society."
The statement notes that ongoing research collaborations have been hampered; outstanding young scientists, engineers, and health researchers have been prevented from entering this country or delayed in doing so; and important international conferences have been canceled. Those prevented from entering the country include distinguished professors invited to teach at American universities, research collaborators with American laboratories whose absence has halted projects, and—perhaps most serious, according to the National Academies presidents— many outstanding young graduate and postdoctoral students who contribute to the U.S. research enterprise and economy.
Today, about half of the graduate students enrolled in physical sciences and engineering at U.S. universities come from other nations, reported the National Academies presidents, who wrote that "these foreign students are essential for much of the federally funded research carried out at academic laboratories."
The presidents urged the U.S. government to correct the visa problems as rapidly as possible and pledged the support of the U.S. scientific community in efforts to do so. "We ask the Department of State and its consular officials to recognize that, in addition to their paramount responsibility to deny visas to potential terrorists, the long-term security of the United States depends on admitting scholars who benefit our nation," the presidents wrote.
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