We need more foreign graduate students

I had an interesting discussion a little while ago with a ex-coworker. Since 9/11, it has become harder and harder to get an American visa. Student visas in particular are far less attainable. We haven’t seen any signficant effects now, but my coworker is convinced it is a ticking timebomb.

We’re losing other countries’ intellectual elite. Not just their presence, but their hearts and minds. In the old days, if you were brilliant, you attended an American university, and that was that. Perhaps you didn’t agree with the American way of life, but after spending a number of years here, at least you could understand it.

And more importantly, once you returned to your home country and America did something stupid, you would understand our motivations.

We have now taken the position of denying the world’s intellectual elite the opportunity for an educational and cultural experience in our country. These are the people who will one day be wielding powerful influence in their own countries. These are the people whom we would really like to understand our lifestyle, whether or not they agree with it. These are the people who will control the countries of the world and now their only impression of America is what they are fed by the people around them.

It is a timebomb that is going to explode in our children’s faces.