In Assam there is an unholy paradox relating to foreign nationals who arrive in the State. Considering the large number of foreign nationals who migrate to Assam illegally, there is every justification for being extremely careful about the monitoring of foreign nationals who land up in the State. But there are also bona fide tourists visiting the State who need to feel welcome if we are at all honest about our pious resolves to promote tourism in Assam. So we really have an immigrant paradox working in the State at two levels. In the first place, we cannot afford to countenance the illegal influx of lakhs of foreigners who are in the State illegally. At the same time, we cannot afford to treat the genuine foreign tourist arriving here with proper travel documents in the same way as we treat foreigners who are here illegally and refuse to leave the State. Genuine tourists from foreign countries have to be treated with the kind of respect and friendliness that will make them want to visit Assam again. Hence there is the paradox at the other level as well—of having to treat the foreigner from Bangladesh differently from the foreign tourist from other countries. This discrimination is eminently justified because even many of the foreigners from Bangladesh who arrive with proper travel documents either keep extending their stay in India or do not go back at all. They receive all kinds of help (including the forging of documents) from their compatriots who are already here illegally. So, people in Assam have to live with two paradoxes in dealing with two kinds of foreigners. There are the foreign tourists from different countries who have no intentions of remaining in Assam and there are the Bangladeshis. Our treatment of the two has to be very different. We are not sure that this is really happening. Secondly, we have to deal with most foreigners from Bangladesh as illegal intruders and deny them privileges due to foreign tourists from other countries who have no plans of remaining here permanently.