Fortress America's chilly hello

As the US tightens its borders and starts denying visas in record numbers, many travelers are saying `Why even bother going at all?'

Four times a week a Japan Airlines 747 from Sao Paulo, Brazil, lands in New York City on the way to Tokyo, but since August the planes have each been carrying 100 fewer passengers because of hastily imposed new rules, introduced in early August, to deal with threats from al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

For many foreign travelers, a visa is now required to change planes in the US while traveling between most countries, a rule affecting 47 airports.

In the year before Sept. 11, 2001, about 1.6 million people a year changed planes in the US on their way between two other countries, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.

In the 12 months that followed, the number of these in-transit passengers fell to about 614,000. Passenger counts have fallen further since August, airlines say, because people from all but 27 countries, including Canada, Japan and Western European nations, must now obtain a visa.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2003/10/12/2003071409

1.5 years ago I said this was going to happen.

Also, what about the foreign students who pay double the tuition in our Universities? (And end up staying
and taking over their University research departments?) Where are the states going to make up this income?

When Arnold solves California's woes, he'll help the rest of the states