Thread: U.S. Keeps Rolling Up The Welcoming Mat

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/2 ... lid25.html

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

U.S. keeps rolling up the welcome mat

MARLENE M. JOHNSON
GUEST COLUMNIST

In the long shadow of Sept. 11, we seem to be unable to stop taking actions in the name of security that hurt our national interests. The coming tightening of driver's license requirements for foreign students is a case study of this phenomenon.

Dealing yet another blow to the United States' reputation as a welcoming nation for the world's talent, the unnecessary new requirements will make life unduly complicated for these visitors. Even worse, they will give the future leaders of the world -- the students and scholars of today -- one more reason to seek other academic destinations.

The new driver's license restrictions are part of the REAL ID Act, which includes numerous border security provisions and was included in a larger bill to fund the war on terrorism and tsunami relief. Under the act, international visitors whose period of authorized stay in the United States is not limited by a specific end date will be eligible for one-year licenses only. To renew those licenses, such visitors must present documents that show that their permission to be in the country has been extended.

This arrangement may sound reasonable but it quickly falls apart on closer examination. The reason foreign students are not given a specific date by which they must depart the United States is that a course of study can take anywhere from several months to several years to complete. After securing a visa to enter the country, they can stay until they finish their coursework, provided they comply with many other requirements, such as promptly reporting changes of address and taking a certain course load each academic term.

Foreign students do not receive periodic documentation from the government certifying that they continue to be in compliance. Paradoxically, the new law requires foreign students to provide evidence that does not exist.

A couple of possible ways around this conundrum come to mind. The government could grant DMVs access to the federal database that tracks foreign students and scholars during their sojourn in the United States. Unfortunately, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System is riddled with errors. Even the government has such doubts about its accuracy that a special unit has been charged with sorting out which individuals flagged by the system are in violation of their status and which are just the victims of inaccurate data.

Another option might be to begin issuing yearly status verification documents to the nearly 1 million foreign students and scholars in the United States, but it is highly unrealistic to expect that this could be accomplished in a timely manner. Meanwhile, students will be left stranded, and communities with high concentrations of foreign students will feel the strain of the new requirements. In Washington alone there are more than 10,000 foreign students; more than two-thirds of them attend school in the Seattle area. Lines at the DMV will be especially long at peak times, such as the start of the fall semester.

All this trouble might be worthwhile if the new restrictions would actually improve security, but they will not. The federal government is responsible for tracking foreign students and addressing any status violations. This is the whole purpose of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. To rely on the DMV as a backup system is an extremely unwise enforcement strategy.

The new restrictions will only serve to place one more burden on people who are here legally and are already exhaustively tracked. In many communities, Americans and visitors alike rely on the ability to drive a car to take care of basic needs, like grocery shopping, dropping the kids off at school and getting to doctor's appointments. For foreign students, getting a license to do so will now require running an unnecessary and complicated gauntlet.

It is unlikely that the authors of the REAL ID Act had any idea that it would create such problems. Still, ill-advised measures such as this one cumulatively have had a serious negative impact on the United States' standing as the premier academic destination for the world's talent.

To prevent further damage, the president must articulate a policy that sets out the national interest in welcoming foreign students. International educational exchanges are one of the best ways to build lasting, positive connections between our country and the rest of the world. This is the essence of public diplomacy. A national policy on international education would protect this vital asset to our country by not only proclaiming that the welcome mat is still out, but by ensuring that we think twice before putting up roadblocks that send a very different message.

Marlene M. Johnson is executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. NAFSA's annual conference will be held in Seattle next week.

You know what.....I am sick to death with our educational "leaders" whining about foreign students, foreign aliens, undocumented students, illegals.

Listen up....all the great minds our country has ever needed are right here, right now....complete with documents and driver's licenses.....they're called:

AMERICAN CITIZENS