President Biden has rescinded a Trump-era Department of Homeland Security proposal aimed at protecting Americans from the threat of violent terrorist attacks. The DHS rule specifically targeted student VISA holders possibly connected to Islamic terrorists or Chinese spies would have required them to renew this VISA application every two to four years and check they are still in good standing with their university.
The Daily Wire reports:
The most valuable part of the process would have had DHS agents conduct eyeball-to-eyeball interviews with renewal applicants. The agents also would collect biometric information, spot-check progress at academic institutions, and double-check that original claimed purposes remained valid. This periodic regimen would have made sure not only that F-1 visa holders from those countries were keeping their end of the bargain but provide opportunities for suspicious activity referrals to the FBI.
He added, “In its official explanation, the Biden administration pointed out that 99 percent of those who commented on the regulation – a great many of them likely the affected foreigners, school administrators, and exchange visitor programs – just didn’t want to go through all the bothersome rigmarole for their generous host nation’s security interests. The regulation, opponents most frequently complained, ‘would significantly burden’ them with extra cost and time, would discriminate based on nationality, and would deny them access to ‘immigration benefits.’”
The proposal pointed out, “To extend their stay,these aliens enrolled in consecutive educational programs, transferred to new schools, or repeatedly requested DSOs to extend their program end dates.”
The proposal stated: “According to a December 2018 report by a panel of experts commissioned by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study foreign influence on federally-funded scientific research, ‘Small numbers of scientists have committed serious violations of NIH’s policies and systems by not disclosing foreign support (grants), laboratories, or funded faculty positions in other countries.’ There are multiple examples of these ongoing national security threats.”
