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Chris McManes IEEE-USA
Signs Coalition Statement Urging WASHINGTON (13 May 2004) — IEEE-USA President John Steadman signed a joint statement Wednesday urging the federal government to solve the current visa-processing crisis by adopting six recommendations to streamline the admittance of international students, scholars and scientists. IEEE-USA was one of 20 science, higher education and engineering organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Association of American Universities, to endorse the statement sent to U.S. policymakers. Between 2000 and 2002, the number of non-immigrant visa applications flagged for review under the U.S. Visas Mantis screening program had risen from about 1,000 to 14,000. This has helped create a massive logjam of pending applications, preventing students from attending school and scientists from participating in scholarly research and conferences. While "the need to ensure national security is indisputable," AAAS CEO Alan I. Leshner said, "legitimate applications from scholars and students seeking to improve human welfare must not become snared in red tape. Scientific advances to combat HIV and AIDS, hunger, terrorism and many other crises will require the insights and contributions of scholars from many regions." For more on
the statement and its specific recommendations, see
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/0512visa.shtml. IEEE-USA | Top of Page | News Releases | IEEE News | IEEE | IEEE-USA | Last Updated:
10 May 2004 |