CONTENTS:
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
NASA Reauthorization Bill Signed by the President
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Higher Education Community Writes to President about “Dreamers”
Associations Urge USCIS to Reconsider Suspension of H-1B Premium Processing
CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES
NASA REAUTHORIZATION BILL SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT
President Trump on March 21 signed into law the bipartisan NASA Transition Authorization Act (S. 442), which authorizes $19.5 billion for the space agency in FY17. The measure stresses human space exploration and largely affirms existing NASA priorities.
At the signing ceremony, Vice President Mike Pence said he expected the Administration to reestablish the National Space Council, an interagency advisory group last used in the George H.W. Bush Administration.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
HIGHER EDUCATION COMMUNITY WRITES TO PRESIDENT ABOUT “DREAMERS”
On March 17, the American Council on Education (ACE) delivered a letter to President Trump on behalf of more than 560 college and university presidents, including 50 from AAU universities, regarding “Dreamers,” young people brought to this country as children by their undocumented parents.
The letter thanked President Trump for his positive comments about Dreamers, and pledged the higher education community’s assistance in finding a solution so that Dreamers can continue working and studying in the U.S. without fear of deportation. More than 750,000 individuals are currently registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, many of whom are enrolled in college.
ASSOCIATIONS URGE USCIS TO RECONSIDER SUSPENSION OF H-1B PREMIUM PROCESSING
A group of five higher education associations, including AAU, on March 22 sent a letter to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) describing how the agency’s suspension of premium processing for H-1B visas would “disproportionately” harm universities. They urged the agency to reconsider.
The five associations—AAU, APLU, AAMC, CUPA-HR, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators—said the processing backlog of tens of thousands of H-1B applications had forced universities, and their affiliated research facilities and medical centers, to use premium processing to ensure the timely hiring of faculty and researchers. A temporary suspension of premium processing would have a severe impact on universities’ education and research missions.