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Policy Brief vol.2 issue.2
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March 7, 2007 Vol. 2 Issue 2
Newsweek Columnist Calls for Welcoming, Open, Tolerant Security Policy
Cumbersome visa and entry policies are unnecessarily hampering the ability of legitimate visitors to come to the United States, says Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek columnist and editor of Newsweek International. In his February 26 column entitled “How Homeland Security Harms U.S. Image, Economy,” Zakaria cites yet another high-profile case of potential allies for the United States being humiliated and delayed at the port of entry. Unfortunately, this is what happens when one part of the U.S. government sets up an initiative to improve relations with the Arab world, only to have another part of the government cancel out that goodwill effort. The tragic part of the story is that it doesn’t have to be this way - today’s visa and entry policies are inadvertently and unnecessarily hurting America’s ability to project its true values as an open democracy. The good news is that with strong leadership and sensible, tolerant security policy, it is possible to protect security without having visa and entry processes that demean people who we want to be our friends. We welcome the improvements that the State Department has made in the visa process. Nevertheless, as Zakaria says, “incremental changes have not altered the basic picture,” and as a result, “many foreigners have simply stopped trying” to access this country. International student enrollment in U.S. colleges and universities has now declined for three straight years—and although the data for the current academic year will likely show the beginning of a recovery, we’re a long way from getting back to where we were five years ago. Absent a national strategy to restore U.S. competitiveness for international students, in which all parts of the government work together to welcome America’s future friends, the United States risks losing one of its most important foreign policy assets. We have to get our act together. An America which, in Zakaria’s words, is “open, welcoming, and tolerant” is “a powerful refutation of the propaganda and caricatures of its enemies.” Read the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17201007/site/newsweek/ Policy Brief is a periodic electronic information resource for policy news and analysis on international education issues, published by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
With over 9,000 members NAFSA is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education. NAFSA seeks to increase awareness of and support for international education and exchanges in higher education and government, believing that citizens with international experience and global awareness are crucial to U.S. leadership, competitiveness, and security. We welcome your feedback about this publication. Please email: govrel[at]nafsa.org NAFSA: ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS
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