For the Betterment of All

Congress is debating immigration legislation that will shape the future of the United States in the twenty-first century and will define the face we present to the world for generations to come. International higher education has a huge stake in the outcome. As international educators, we know learning and scholarship happens best when bright, motivated people come together from around the globe to share knowledge and explore ideas.

NAFSA comes to the issue of immigration reform because we have a unique understanding of the role our immigration policies play in international higher education. As the leading organization of educators working with student and scholar mobility, we know firsthand and it is reinforced time and time again by experience how our dysfunctional immigration laws undermine the positive first impression we want to give people who come to the United States to study or teach. We see, too, how the restrictions we impose send a negative, isolationist message to U.S. students who should be placing a premium on learning from other cultures.

We have all heard the countless stories of how the broken immigration system stymies education and innovation: it’s the world-renowned scholar who can’t return to his laboratory in the United States because of a security mix-up, or the pioneering scientist who can’t present her research here because of a visa paperwork backlog, the accomplished spouse of a foreign student who can’t continue his career in the United States for however many years his wife is here pursuing her PhD, or