It makes sense to check the status of visitors from foreign nations.

It is not difficult to understand why American college students from such countries as Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia are uncomfortable and displeased by immigration regulations requiring them to be photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed.

Many are quick to contend they are victims of racial or ethnic profiling, and care must be taken to protect their rights. But are they protesting because they sincerely feel abused or because our system allows them to complain and resist? Is their resistance real or contrived because somebody told them they should be incensed?

If American students were in nations such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran right now (and there probably are very few, all things considered), we can be sure they would be subject to every bit as much scrutiny and probably more.

Mike Heston of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Office in Kansas City, says that temporary foreign visitors from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are to report to the office between Jan. 13 and Feb. 21. Simply put, those who do not do so risk arrest and removal.

The visits are required under the third phase of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, as part of a program passed by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist murders.

Some Kansas University students covered by the ruling feel they are being unfairly singled out. Yet all they need to do is check on how many known terrorists have emanated from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Jihad hero Osama bin Laden, for example, is a Saudi. While Saudi Arabia professes a kinship with the United States, the behavior of many of its people has not lent credence to the nation’s deep intent.

After 9-11, it became blatantly clear how badly the United States had handled its immigration policies. Leniency, inefficiency, laziness and ineptness had allowed countless people intent on doing us harm to enter with no strings and to wander freely with bad intentions.

It became clear that America needed to do a much better job of deciding who was among its citizenry and what potential for harm they posed. It was inevitable that many would be unhappy about this, but the safety of the country and its people comes first. Better for visitors to be upset than for people to be endangered.

If visitors from suspect nations have to go through screening such as that planned in Kansas City, so be it.

Eventually, students from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen also will be checked on and interviewed. It is not difficult to see why.

Again, all this is unfortunate but necessary under current world conditions. While it is possible to sympathize with well-intentioned students with no harmful agendas, it also is a practical matter for the United States to be more aware of visitors from nations with questionable motives.