Editorial: Tougher visa policy is sensible

Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001 | 8:28 a.m.

Two of the 19 terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had overstayed their visas, and yet another terrorist had acquired a student visa to enroll in an English language course, but he never attended the classes he was supposed to be taking. In response, in late October President Bush ordered steps taken to strengthen immigration controls, including a crackdown on foreigners who violated the terms of their visas. About the same time the president made his announcement, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said that it would create a computer database so that it could keep better tabs on foreign students carrying visas. The initiatives by the White House and the INS are reasonable efforts to make sure that foreigners coming to this nation are here for legitimate reasons.

The Sun's Timothy Pratt reported this week that some higher education officials in Nevada are worried that the extra scrutiny of foreign students will give the United States a bad image. If the number of students declines, educators also note it could adversely affect what has become a billion-dollar business in this nation. The concern was heightened following the recent arrests in San Diego of 10 Middle Eastern students who had violated the terms of their visas.

"We all understand that things have changed and everyone agrees that we don't want terrorists in our nation," said Susan Bender, director of the office of international students and scholars at the University of Nevada, Reno. "But we're not sure if this is the best way to be going about combating terrorism." Despite the concerns over the stricter immigration controls, foreign students still will want to come to the United States for a very simple reason: Our nation has the best higher education system in the world. It also should be noted that the policy won't preclude foreign students from attending U.S. universities, the nation only is making sure that they follow the rules while they're temporarily here.

In coping with terrorism, one of the biggest issues facing a democracy is its openness, a virtue that makes a nation strong but one that also creates a vulnerability that terrorists will seize upon. That is why it is important, in devising an immigration policy, to make sure that terrorists aren't able to disguise themselves, which can include passing themselves off as students. It also should be remembered that foreign students have been invited to the United States as a courtesy -- it's not their right. The additional visa scrutiny for students, quite simply, was needed -- long before Sept. 11.