International students are vital to the STEM talent pipeline and the U.S. economy. America’s leading research universities are magnets for global talent in STEM fields, which drive economic growth through research and development (R&D). This results in new companies and industries and creates millions of high-wage jobs.
Some key facts:
- International students added $43 billion to the American economy - just last year.
- Immigrants founded more than half of unicorn startups. This means privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more, like SpaceX, CrowdStrike, Zoom, and Instacart.
- Defense-related industries rely heavily on STEM workers. Half of these workers are foreign-born.
Recently, the administration has proposed policies which put American science at risk. AAU urges Congress to help the United States win the race for global scientific talent. For that reason, AAU opposes policies that:
- End duration of status for student visa holders.
- Delay, deny, or revoke student visas without due process.
- Impose broad travel bans and processing pauses that limit students, researchers, educators, and skilled professionals.
- Restrict the Optional Practical Training program for student visa holders.
- Make harmful changes to the H-1B visa program.
Such policies would harm U.S. leadership in science and cause our nation to lose the global race for scientific talent. Instead of attracting scientists, it could, and is, causing brain drain: when scientists eave America. We stand ready to work with Congress to keep America dominant in science and technology.
The Association of American Universities (AAU) urges Congress to reject policies that make it harder for the United States to attract and retain the best and brightest students and scholars from around the world and other high-skilled foreign talent.
The Trump administration’s deep cuts to federal funding of scientific research, crackdown on universities, and proposals aimed at deterring international talent have unleashed a loss of scientific talent – a brain drain - away from the United States to other countries.
This page will be updated regularly to provide new information as it becomes available regarding the AAU-Chamber of Commerce legal action contesting the implementation of a $100,000 fee for H1-B visa petitions.
DHS and ICE have proposed a rule that would make it harder for international students to complete their degree programs in the United States, obtain practical work experience upon graduation, or move on to another degree level.
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Today, AAU joined ACE and 12 other higher education organizations on a letter to House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders urging them to include Sec. 1763 of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act in the final conferenced FY21 National Defense Authorization Act.
AAU joined ACE, APLU, and NAFSA in writing United States Customs and Border Patrol regarding recent reports of students being denied entry to the U.S. while traveling on valid visas for hybrid programs.
On July 27th, John Hill, Assistant Secretary in the Office of Partnership and Engagement at DHS responded to a letter AAU sent on April 20, 2020 requesting additional international student visa guidance from the State Department and DHS.
The FBI prepared a Liaison Information Report (LIR) to inform academia financial offices and other financial institutions about telephone-based scams targeting Chinese citizens on student and/or work visas.
AAU joined ACE and 44 other higher education organizations on a letter to acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to follow up on the withdrawn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement guidelines, seeking further guidance on the status of incoming international students
