US to Suspend New Foreign-Scholar Visas: Nature

The US president issued a proclamation expanding limits for foreign workers, including a suspension on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign scholars and employees for tech firms. The block will not extend to current visa holders, but that does not ease their uncertainty. “The Trump administration characterized the decision as a plan to stave off the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and to prioritize jobs for US citizens,” reports a team for Nature. “Experts slammed the move and argued that foreign talent is necessary to keep the US scientific enterprise competitive.” The US issued more than 188,000 H-1B visas for 2019. About 30 percent of all US science and engineering employees were born outside the country, according to the National Science Foundation. The article describes two specialized visa holders: a physicist from Turkey and a UK infectious-disease ecologist who studies bees. The director of a pancreatic research laboratory in Texas points out that most of the lab’s staff each year are from other countries and ongoing rule changes impose stress. Analysts suggest the United States will be less competitive in research. Some programs and businesses could relocate research facilities to other nations that welcome diverse talent. – YaleGlobal