SIR.—We would like to bring to your attention the treatment
received by a British graduate student, John R. Johnstone, from the United States immigra- tion authorities. He has been denied extension of his visa which would be necessary for him to complete his PhD thesis at the University of California. His wife and two young children are dependent on him for support.
In the light of this, the inflexible attitude of the authorities is not only unjust but also callous. The
grounds given for this denial were of the vaguest kind. Mention was made that he took part in. de- monstrations against the House un-American
Activities Committee along with 5,000 students from the San Francisco area, but in addition it has been insinuated that there are other grounds which the
authorities do not see fit .to make public. In fact at no time was he or any other foreign student informed that participation in political activity would endanger their status as students in this country. The immigra- tion authorities have yet to define the precise limits of permissible foreign student activity. John John- stone is the third British student to have faced ex- pulsion from the United States during the last six months for engaging in activities of a kind which American students have always been permitted to Partake of during their stay in Britain. Particularly undesirable has been the retrospective nature of the Prohibitions and their quite uncertain limits. This has meant that all British and other foreign students studying here are placed in a position of extreme insecurity and doubt about their immediate futures. There is no clear guide to the extent of the freedom they are allowed.
We feel that we have a right in this situation to re- ceive the full support of the British authorities, with- out which we are in a weak and virtually powerless Position. We feel that this is a matter worthy of being raised at the highest level with the American Government. In the interest of such action we have Informed the British Embassy in Washington of the situation.—Yours faithfully,
BRIAN VAN ARKEDIE W. JOHN W. NINES R. E. ROWTHORN I. P. KING M. S. KING BEVAN WAIDE
University of California, Berkeley, California
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