Banning Chinese students will hurt economy
As doctoral researchers in STEM, we work with international students and researchers every day. They are our valued colleagues, respected mentors and trusted friends. Recent immigration proposals aiming to restrict the entry of international STEM trainees threaten the ability of U.S. research institutions to recruit and retain this critical pool of STEM talent. Two such bills, the Secure Campus Act (S.3920) and the Holding China Accountable Act (H.R.7181), would ban most Chinese nationals from conducting STEM research in the United States. These proposals, part of a broader effort to capitalize politically on the growing anti-Chinese sentiment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, will do irreparable damage to the American research enterprise and to the American economy.
For decades, international graduate students and scholars have been a crucial part of the workforce at American research institutions. Each research lab is usually led by a professor who crafts the overall research direction of the lab and manages a team of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars working on specific projects. A significant fraction of these students are international, many of them from China. For instance, at Rice University, nearly one in four graduate students is a Chinese national. Graduate student researchers learn advanced skills, create new knowledge and contribute toward the scientific excellence and innovation that characterize American research institutions. The skills learned by these students predominantly benefit the United States. Ninety percent of Chinese STEM doctorate students remain in the country 10 years after graduation, contributing to the American economy with roles in both academia and private businesses. Over the course of their lives, immigrants with postgraduate degrees contribute between $427,000 and $654,000 to federal, state and local governments.
The alleged intent behind both S.3920 and H.R.7181 is to hinder Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft. While concerns have been raised about students and scientists trained at Chinese military institutes, researchers with links to such institutes form less than 1 percent of the Chinese student population in the United States, making the proposed blanket ban on all Chinese researchers a grossly disproportionate overreaction. In fact, these bills seem to be no more than brazen attempts to take advantage of the current pandemic to curry favor with anti-immigration groups. Exploiting antiimmigrant sentiment is an age-old tactic to set up a scapegoat during trying times. The proposed bans on Chinese STEM researchers harken back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the first immigration act to target people on the basis of ethnicity. That act led us on a slippery slope, ultimately resulting in a ban on all Asian immigrants in 1924. Such racebased restrictions were only lifted in 1952.
A recent proclamation by President Donald Trump attempts to take a more targeted approach by specifically denying visas to individuals with ties to Chinese military institutes. However, this proclamation gives the State Department broad authority to determine which institutes will come under the purview of this policy, leaving open the possibility of broader immigration restrictions on Chinese nationals. A newly announced bipartisan bill that aims to address U.S. intellectual property theft suffers from a similar flaw.
Broad restrictions on Chinese nationals alienate, and even demonize, some of our most trusted friends and valued colleagues. The animus underlying these bills is deeply troubling. It sends an unambiguous signal to all international students that the United States no longer extends them a warm welcome. The effects of these bans therefore extend beyond Chinese nationals and threaten what has perhaps been the greatest strength of American science — our ability to attract and retain STEM talent from around the globe.
It is encouraging that little support has been voiced in Congress for the proposed blanket bans on Chinese STEM researchers, and neither is likely to become law. However, the fact that such reckless policy proposals, damaging to U.S. science, innovation and economy, could be introduced in Congress is a troubling sign. Given the ease with which anti-immigrant sentiment can be exploited, it is critical that immigration policies be drafted with more specific language and scope so that they cannot be interpreted to broadly restrict immigration. The academic and business communities are already organizing against these anti-immigrant policies. Our Houston community must stay informed about the issues faced by international students and reach out to our elected officials to voice opposition to these and similarly reckless proposals. If not, we risk forgoing the economic, scientific and medical benefits of American leadership in research and innovation.