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[WASHINGTON] Scientific leaders are increasingly fearful that tighter immigration procedures, introduced in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, are threatening the United States' position as a magnet for the world's scientific talent.

Researchers from countries as diverse as Indonesia and Germany are now subject to detailed security checks and rigorous interviews. The clampdown covers first-time visitors to the United States and those returning to lab positions there ‹ delaying trips by weeks or months, and deterring some from coming at all.

The consequences of the change, which intensified with the introduction last August of new visa guidelines for consular officials, could be far-reaching. "We are in a rapid transition, whereby the United States will cease to be the destination of choice for researchers," predicts Irving Lerch, director of international affairs at the American Physical Society.

Some researchers and officials outside the United States ‹ such as those at top European universities ‹ acknowledge that they could benefit from a protracted reduction in the flow of scientists into US institutions. But publicly, at least, they draw little comfort from the situation.

"I'd prefer a world in which individuals make free decisions about where to go and work," says Robert May, president of Britain's Royal Society. "We need to keep Britain and other European destinations attractive for scientists ‹ but not as second-choice countries."

Last week in Congress, the House Science Committee held hearings to address scientists' concerns. "The current situation is untenable," argued the committee's chairman, Sherwood Boehlert (Republican, New York). "Foreign students fill our graduate programmes; foreign scholars fill our faculty and laboratory positions. These people are a vital source of new ideas and perspectives." But not all committee members agreed, with some voicing satisfaction at the exclusion of foreign scientists (see Congressmen unmoved by foreigners' plight).





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