By the time the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Belarus, opens in the morning, there is often a line of a hundred Belarusian youths, sometimes more.

They are willing to sacrifice most of the upcoming day for the complex process of applying for a visa that will allow them to leave their small ex-Soviet country between Poland and Russia, and work or study in the United States.

Many of them have questions for me. Have I met a celebrity? Have I ever seen the Statue of Liberty? Do I know any Belarusians in America?

Most speak English very well, and many know more about American culture and legal practices than the average American. One jokes by trying to read me the Miranda warning: "You have right to silence..."

Few of these people will get a visa, and of those who do, about half will violate immigration law and disappear into the United States.

Continued here