Visa rules imperil collaboration.

The tragic events in Paris, France, and San Bernardino, California, have led to an unfortunate response by U.S. lawmakers. In an amendment to the recently signed omnibus bill, changes to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) were enacted that will substantially affect global scientific collaborations and exchanges. The program previously allowed citizens of 38 nations to travel to the United States without a visa for up to 90 days—a great boon to scientists and academics who wished to participate in conferences or take part in research projects. Indeed, the goal of the program was to encourage such interactions by reducing barriers to travel. The changes to this program focus on four countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region ([ 1 ][1]). Dual nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan, as well as others who have traveled to those countries since 2011, are prohibited from traveling to United States without a visa by the VWP ([ 2 ][2]). Given the potential for reciprocal restrictions upon American travelers by other countries ([ 3 ][3]), this change will impede global scientific exchanges and dialogue and will obstruct the work of scientists and health professionals who travel to the MENA region, including members of charitable organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and Save the Children. As scientists, we need to work diligently to create communities that model successful and peaceful collaborations [e.g., ([ 4 ][4], [ 5 ][5])], and the changes to the VWP stand in the way of that mission. During the Cold War, American and Russian scientists collaborated to develop groundbreaking prototypes to the oral polio vaccine ([ 6 ][6]). The danger posed by the Cold War was at least as great and arguably greater than the current danger from terrorism; yet, despite open enmity between nations, scientific collaborations produced a breakthrough that prevented millions of people from dying or becoming disabled due to polio. Are we willing to sacrifice that kind of progress out of fear of terrorism? 1. [↵][7]1. T. C. Brown , “Proposed changes to the Visa Waiver Program,” Bipartisan Policy Center (2015); . 2. [↵][8]BBC News, “Five things you need to know about US visa changes” (2015); [www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35162916][9]. 3. [↵][10]The Hill, “What the Visa Waiver Program means to Europe” (2015); . 4. [↵][11]NIH Record, “U.S.-Iran Scientific Partnerships Hold Promise” (2013); [https://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2013/01\_18\_2013/story6.htm][12]. 5. [↵][13]“Iran winning praise for effective—and increasingly open—response to HIV/AIDS, experts say” (2012); [www.aaas.org/news/iran-winning-praise-effective%E2%80%94andincreasingly-open%E2%80%94response-hivaidsexperts-say][14]. 6. [↵][15]1. W. Swanson , “Revealed: How Cold War scientists joined forces to conquer polio,” Scientific American (2012); [www.scientificamerican.com/article/birth-of-a-cold-war-vaccine/][16]. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #ref-5 [6]: #ref-6 [7]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [8]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [9]: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35162916 [10]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text" [11]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4 in text" [12]: http://nihrecord.nih.gov/newsletters/2013/01_18_2013/story6.htm [13]: #xref-ref-5-1 "View reference 5 in text" [14]: http://www.aaas.org/news/iran-winning-praise-effective%E2%80%94andincreasingly-open%E2%80%94response-hivaidsexperts-say [15]: #xref-ref-6-1 "View reference 6 in text" [16]: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/birth-of-a-cold-war-vaccine/