A Proposed Bill Would Track H-1B Professors and Students

Image by Karl Allen Lugmayer from Pixabay Senator Tom Cotton has introduced legislation to track foreign student and faculty visa holders to safeguard sensitive research at American universities. The ‘Educational Visa Transparency Act’ expands the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to include all student, faculty, and staff visa holders in U.S. higher education. It would also allow other federal agencies to access this information. The introduction of this bill follows several concerning cases in which foreign nationals, including those from Communist China, attempted to smuggle dangerous biological materials into the United States under the guise of academic research. “Unmonitored foreign nationals in the labs and research centers of our colleges and universities pose