Staff Reports
Republican politician Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has proposed a bill to tighten the requirements for issuing student visas to foreign nationals in an attempt to prevent foreign influence on American universities. The law, known as the "Breaking Beijing's Hold on Campus Act," is directed at international students who might be involved in gathering or sending data to foreign governments. This includes students from countries including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
In order to comply with the rules of their home countries, overseas students must declare that they will not participate in any activities that could intimidate or coerce their peers. This proposed measure would alter the Immigration and Nationality Act. It also seeks, on behalf of the aforementioned countries, to thwart "transnational repression" in whatever form. Rep. Banks underscored that collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on American schools would result in deportation and stressed the need to prevent American college campuses from serving as venues for the CCP's influence.
The measure is a reaction to Jinrui Zhang, a law student at Georgetown University, who testified that the CCP was monitoring Chinese nationals on university property. Zhang supported the law, saying it would be good for American democracy, and shared his story of being harassed by classmates for his activity against the Chinese government. Zhang claims that certain foreign students bring authoritarian beliefs and behaviors that are incompatible with American constitutional rights of free expression, such as intimidating and suppressing dissenters.
The "Breaking Beijing's Hold on Campus Act" expressly forbids any attempt to intimidate or force international students to act in the benefit of a foreign government or to obstruct their ability to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights. Foreign nationals' nonimmigrant visas would be immediately revoked for violating these clauses. Without bringing oppressive practices and intolerable ideologies into the country, the law seeks to protect the highly valued rights of the American educational system and guarantee that foreign students make a good contribution to their institutions.
People who understand how critical it is to protect American universities from foreign meddling have endorsed Rep. Banks' effort. The "Breaking Beijing's Hold on Campus Act" aims to preserve liberty principles and guarantee that foreign students enhance the academic environment without undermining the fundamental freedoms and rights that the United States cherishes by proactively confronting potential threats to free speech and democratic values.
