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Bomb Plot Worries Foreign Doctors In US
The Guardian (UK) ^ | 7-6-2007 | Matt Apuzzo
Posted on 07/06/2007 3:45:15 PM PDT by blam
Bomb Plot Worries Foreign Doctors in US
Friday July 6, 2007 11:16 PM
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Evidence that doctors are at the heart of a British terrorist plot has foreign-born physicians in the U.S. on edge and wondering whether already stringent immigration security will get even tougher.
Six physicians are among eight suspects in the failed terror attacks, including one from Iraq, one from Jordan, two from India and a man identified by hospital staff as being from Lebanon.
``We’re hoping and praying these physicians are cleared and that they’ve done no harm,’’ said Dr. Subramaniam Balasubramaniam, past president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
The attacks led British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to order a review of Britain’s medical recruiting policies, which for years had been crafted to help fill a doctor shortage.
Officials have not called for such a review in the U.S., where foreign doctors face not only difficult licensing requirements but lengthy background checks and security interviews.
Still, doctors and immigration lawyers are bracing for possible fallout.
``This is going to complicate matters,’’ said Balasubramaniam. ``I’m sure Homeland Security will have a microscopic examination of physicians coming from abroad. I expect them to do that.’’
Medical practitioners normally are licensed at the state level. The federal government does not track how many foreign-born doctors are in the U.S. at any given time, but George Washington University researcher Fitzhugh Mullan estimates there are more than 130,000 currently practicing in the U.S.
India has the most, with more than 40,000 doctors, followed by the Philippines with nearly 18,000 and Pakistan with nearly 10,000, according to Mullan’s research.
Foreign doctors usually come to the United States on temporary visas enabling them to complete their residency and take
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...