Visa Crisis Hurts U. S. Science
Authors: Inder M Verma
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2004)

To science, pilot of industry, conqueror of disease, multiplier of the harvest, explorer of the universe, revealer of nature's laws, eternal guide to truth—George Ellery HaleInscription on the dome of the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. For generations, the U. S. has beckoned vast numbers of talented individuals to its shores by promising seemingly limitless opportunity. Nearly 45% of U. S. scientists educated to the level of Ph.D. in the life sciences were born abroad. A full quarter of the members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) were born outside our borders, and as the acade-my's president, Bruce Alberts, pointed out in his annual address, “Foreign born scientists and engineers have long provided an immense stimulus to both academia and industry in the United States”. The U. S. now faces an important twin challenge—a shortage of scientists because too few Americans are entering technical and scientific fields, and the arrival of fewer foreigners to fill the resulting gap. For the first time in many decades, the number of scientific publications from the U. S. is now surpassed by publications from elsewhere in the world. The National Science Board fears irreversible damage to our edge in scientific human capital in an increasingly competitive world. If this trend continues, the economic welfare and security of the country will become threatened. The situation has worsened since September 11, 2001, because of the draconian new restrictions on the availability of visas to foreign scientists to allow them to work in this country. The number of foreign students applying for graduate study has declined by a third since last fall, according to a recent survey of the Council of Graduate Schools. Decreases in students from China and India are particularly troubling, having declined 78% and 58%, respectively. This reduction will soon manifest itself in declining numbers of publications in the biological sciences, where there is hardly a paper published without a contributor from either China or India. Quoting again from Bruce Alberts' annual address: “We are also continuing to insult the leaders of the science and engineering enterprise in other nations. Far too often, the conditions that they face when they attempt to get a visa are degrading. It will take time to realize the full impact of the deleterious effects of all of these actions. We are, in effect, ‘boiling a frog slowly’. But we will lose something that is irre-placeable if this dreadful situation persists much longer”. As someone who held an Indian passport for twenty-seven years (I became a U. S. citizen in 1994), I can tell countless tales of humiliation while trying to enter legitimately into many countries where I was invited to give a scientific presentation. The motivation of the State Department, the F. B. I., and the Department of Homeland Security is clearly to prevent entry into the U. S. by rogue elements who might misuse our hospitality and know-how. The proliferation of nuclear arms in Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and Libya came about through the theft of the design of the ultracentrifuge used to enrich uranium by Professor A. Khan, a Pakistani national working in Holland. But a vast majority of the scientists who come to the U. S. are simply interested in enriching their research careers. Science is truly an international endeavor, and we should work to promote it rather than to place obstacles in its way. The leadership of the ASGT can play an important role in helping to ease this situation by making a policy declaration, and joining other scientific organizations such as the American Association for the Advencement of Science (AAAS) and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in urging the State Department of find ways to solve this crisis. As individuals, we can bring this problem to the attention of our representatives in the U. S. Government. Let us make sure that science in the U. S. does not become another casualty of September 11.