Imagine for a moment that some American political leader could convince many of the nations of the world to send us their brightest young people during one of the most impressionable periods in their lives.

Imagine that the young people would stay in the United States for several years, studying the thousands of subjects taught in our universities. In addition to their technical knowledge, these students -- the potential future leaders of their countries -- would be exposed to all the rights and freedoms that citizens of a democracy enjoy.

These students would see that many of the prejudices and stereotypes they have picked up about Americans, or have been told by their own governments, are not true. Their time here could convince them of the virtues of freedom, which many are experiencing for the first time, with a forcefulness and certainty that only experience can instill.

Imagine the positive impact we eventually could have on the closed societies from which many of these students come. The politician who could put this scheme in motion would be hailed as a hero -- a person bringing invigorating new brainpower into the United States while promoting world peace and understanding of democratic principles.

In reality, this situation exists without any grand schemes being implemented. In fact, the political bureaucracy seems to be doing everything it can to discourage the process.

Depending on whom you listen to, President Bush, with his sanctions in protest of the killings in China, has either (a) tried to interfere with the creation of the workers' paradise or (b) made a big mistake by not cutting off all Sino-American ties and sending in the Marines. His action did, however, highlight the asinine immigration policies that the U.S. applies to foreign students.

Under these policies, we welcome these brilliant students and spend a huge amount of resources on them and their studies. Then, instead of giving those who wish to stay in the United States for a while every incentive to do so, we force them out of the country if they do not have a job on the day they graduate.

If they do have a job, the company that employs them must sanction the paperwork necessary for the ex-student to become a permanent resident. Many companies require the former students to work for them for at least six months before they even begin the paperwork, which may take two to four years.

During this time, these immensely talented young people are essentially indentured servants, unable to change jobs or say or do anything that might endanger their jobs. To do so would endanger their ability to stay in this country.

Until they become permanent residents, many of these people have trouble even visiting their families, as they must obtain a separate visa from the U.S. State Department each time they reenter the United States.

This can be difficult, as some of you may have noticed how many foreign embassies and U.S. State Department visa offices State College boasts; a total of none.

The issue of free travel is an important one because coming to the United States as students does not mean that people lose their affection for the land of their birth.

For some students, going back to their original countries, especially the communist ones, means standards of living far below even student standards in this country.

More importantly, these people have been exposed to ideas that are more dangerous -- in the long run -- to their governments than any weapon in the West's arsenal. Thus, they will be viewed with some degree of suspicion for the rest of their lives.

During the Soviet and Chinese revolutions, Stalin's purges, and the Cultural Revolution, the "intellectuals" or educated people were always the first to be branded enemies of the state. These people knew that something different, something better, existed. Thus, it is immoral for the U.S. to force a person back into a totalitarian society.

Of course, not every foreign student comes from an unfree society, but every foreign student who I know has one common characteristic: A love of his or her own country as well as a respect for America. Many students from communist countries desire to return to their homelands, hopefully "one day, when things are better."

Some foreign students have families with them and the children of these families have the opportunity to truly be global citizens, knowing the customs of their parents' cultures while growing up in America.

After living in our society, these students and their families will never believe that America is a malevolent giant waiting to snatch up their country. They will never see any reasonable alternative to a society which freely gives its consent to be governed.

American politicians today have the ability to enhance or hinder this process of creeping democracy and freedom and the U.S. foreign student population is the best of all possible places to start.

America has traditionally been a welcoming haven for those in distress, or just looking for religious, political or economic freedom and opportunity. Why are we turning away these extremely talented people who have lived and studied in our country for years and now want to stay?

If foreign students come to America to study, then leave, they have acquired a knowledge of this country and its principles which is invaluable both for the person and for America.

If students wish to stay in America for a while or permanently, America has acquired a productive citizen who understands the way the world works much better than many Americans who have never known any way other than ours.

In either case, the cause of freedom and the battle against ignorance and prejudice has been advanced in a way that benefits the students, their countries and America.

America should immediately remove the immigration and other restrictions that harass foreign students and pledge itself to furthering, not hindering, this unique process.