Thursday, July 08, 2004
Should it be easier to visit America?
For 75 years it has been harder to get into the United States lawfully than most other wealthy countries, probably because the United States has such an intrinsically open society that people who overstay their visas can embed themselves much more easily than virtually anywhere else on the planet. Since September 11, though, it has become very difficult, and even humiliating, to visit the United States. The lines are long, the visa rules are very burdensome, there's the fingerprinting requirement, and the bad press (and bad facts) around the Gitmo detentions makes it seem as though any immigration officer can clap you in irons if you say the wrong thing. I've spoken to lots of Europeans who will not vacation here any more because of our immigration rules, and it is probably having an impact on trade that extends beyond tourism. This is both bad for the economy in the short and long term, and sad for deeper reasons.
Andrew Sullivan has been beating away at this topic, particularly as it relates to journalists:
I share Andrew Sullivan's broader view that the United States needs to be more mindful of its image abroad. In fact, given the popular dislike and even hatred of the United States in all but a few places (Israel, Kuwait, and India come to mind), we need a crash program to rebuild support for America abroad. Most of our allies, or former allies, are democracies, and their leaders will not be able to back us if it is political suicide for them to do so, even if it is otherwise the sensible thing to do.
However, notwithstanding my general agreement with Mr. Sullivan on this issue, his focus on the treatment of foreign journalists is misplaced. Foreign journalists are the source of a tremendous amount of the anti-Americanism in the world today. They distort what we say, and lie about us to validate themselves. For an extremely sobering view of foreign coverage of the United States, read this long and troubling review essay. For one small example, look here (scroll down). Besides, foreign correspondants take pride in boldly going to disgusting places with hideous governments and writing approvingly of those governments, so it is not at all clear that treating them badly will make their writing more anti-American. Which would be hard to do in any case.
Foreign journalists will not, by and large, be our friends because as a class they are so left of the American political center and so opposed to values that we hold dear that they will always be working against us. So I'm for being very nice and accomodating to foreign holiday-makers and business people, but I find it hard to get worked up over strip-searching the BBC's reporters. In fact, it kind of warms me up just to think that might be happening.
Andrew Sullivan has been beating away at this topic, particularly as it relates to journalists:
If there's one thing the U.S. could be doing right now, it's thinking about how it can improve the country's image abroad. So what does the Bush administration do? It imposes a new immigration rule that will make life extremely difficult for foreign journalists to cover this country adequately, forcing them out of the country for long periods (up to four months) in order to renew their visas. It's already a nightmare to enter this country, because of the new security regulations. British journalists have been jailed, humiliated and deported for the most minor of details, immigration officials at the borders now have powers that defy judicial review and act accordingly. Many of my European friends tell me that they simply won't visit the U.S. any more because of the experience of entering what appears to be a police state at the border - and the risk of summary arrest for no good reason. This is bad enough when it affects millions of ordinary people - tourists, business-people (I've noticed a big decline in European tourists on the Cape this summer). But when you target the group that is responsible for conveying what the United States is to the rest of the world, you are only hurting yourself.
I share Andrew Sullivan's broader view that the United States needs to be more mindful of its image abroad. In fact, given the popular dislike and even hatred of the United States in all but a few places (Israel, Kuwait, and India come to mind), we need a crash program to rebuild support for America abroad. Most of our allies, or former allies, are democracies, and their leaders will not be able to back us if it is political suicide for them to do so, even if it is otherwise the sensible thing to do.
However, notwithstanding my general agreement with Mr. Sullivan on this issue, his focus on the treatment of foreign journalists is misplaced. Foreign journalists are the source of a tremendous amount of the anti-Americanism in the world today. They distort what we say, and lie about us to validate themselves. For an extremely sobering view of foreign coverage of the United States, read this long and troubling review essay. For one small example, look here (scroll down). Besides, foreign correspondants take pride in boldly going to disgusting places with hideous governments and writing approvingly of those governments, so it is not at all clear that treating them badly will make their writing more anti-American. Which would be hard to do in any case.
Foreign journalists will not, by and large, be our friends because as a class they are so left of the American political center and so opposed to values that we hold dear that they will always be working against us. So I'm for being very nice and accomodating to foreign holiday-makers and business people, but I find it hard to get worked up over strip-searching the BBC's reporters. In fact, it kind of warms me up just to think that might be happening.
1 Comments:
By 
Rick, at
Fri Jul 09, 01:08:00 PM:
I am also warmed up by the fact that foreign journalists feel put off when they come here. Maybe more of them will stay home and keep their damned lies to themselves.
With that said, my wife is Russian and it seems equally as frustrating for us to get her paperwork in order here as it is for my American friends to get their paperwork in order in Russia. Clearly something needs to be done to make the tourist and immigration system better. However, I don't harp on it because I would not have the first idea where to start.
