The Attack on Biomedical Research - Part 3, Student Visas

I thought it made sense to next talk about the student visa issue, since the last segment focused on education.  For the purpose of this series, I will discuss the student visa issue in three general parts, although I will probably keep it relatively high level without digging too much into the weeds.

Why Foreign Students?

Educational opportunity should not be restricted to specific subsets of the population.  This is particularly true with respect to higher education.  Talented individuals come from all segments of society across the globe and any talented individual who desires an advanced education to pursue their dreams, should be afforded that opportunity.  This is only one of many reasons for taking foreign students into U.S. academic programs.  So why is the current administration targeting foreign students?  Many currently enrolled students have received notice that their student visas revoked or threatened with revocation.  U.S. embassies across the globe had been instructed to either more closely scrutinize visa applications, slow walk their processing, or reduce the number of student visas for review (although this one apparently has been recently temporarily rescinded).  Universities are being threatened with loss of access to SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System), which is necessary for them to process and track student visas at their institution.  Why this sudden attack on foreign students?

Too many times I have heard the argument that the playing field should be level, that no special considerations be given to specific groups of individuals, and acceptance into degree programs at institutions of higher education should be based on merit.  Well, then thanks to the relatively poor educational system in the U.S., many foreign students significantly outperform domestic students.  That's not to say we don't have skilled and talented American students.  But, if you compare standard academic metrics, coupled with the fact that grade inflation is rampant within the American educational system, it's no wonder foreign students look better on paper.  This is one reason why a holistic approach to reviewing applications and candidates for degree programs is necessary.  Being a successful student isn't just about how you look on paper. 

However, associated with the fact that foreign students tend to "look better" on paper, there is a myth that foreign students get their education in the U.S. then return to their home countries taking all the "secrets" they learned back with them.  This is far from the truth and a myth perpetuated primarily by politicians with specific agendas (briefly discussed below).  There are two important components to consider when talking about the fate of foreign students.  

First, our immigration policies have significant hurdles making it difficult for graduates to stay in the U.S.  The transition from a student visa to a work visa is not easy, made even more difficult if the job market tightens.  This is part of what needs to be addressed with immigration reform.  Many students go back to their home countries, because they basically have to; it's not by choice.  Yes, there are students who choose to return to their home countries (a handful of the students I've trained chose to do so).  Yes, there are students who work for their governments and take "secrets" back with them.  Anyone who denies the latter is ignoring reality.  However, these two categories make up a small proportion of the total foreign student population.  Many foreign students realize their best opportunity to build a scientific career is to remain in the U.S.  Although, the dramatic and detrimental changes in biomedical research being implemented by the current administration may change that.  This is also why countries like China have programs to woo students back home by offering positions with significant resources, large salaries, and/or high prestige.  Again, the current changes now provide other foreign countries the opportunity to poach American talent as students are seeing lesser opportunities for their future if they stay in the U.S.  In some sense, the current administration is creating a "brain drain" with their policies.

Second is that foreign students who train in the U.S. and remain have made (and continue to make) innumerable contributions to society.  The National Foundation for American Policy in 2022 estimated that immigrants founded more than half of the U.S.'s privately-held billion dollar startups.  The intellectual contributions of foreign students to the success of biomedical research in the U.S. is equally significant.  One cannot and should not discount their contributions. 

So Why Revoke Student Visas?

In their attempt to show "strength" and "resolve" to "solve" the immigration "problem," the current administration has targeted immigrants of all types.  The rhetoric used is they are going after the "criminals," but their definition of "crimes" is very loose and their approach, much like their approach to other issues they've tackled, has been haphazard, racially based, and implemented without clear rules.  The current administration has created the narrative that all immigrants, legal or not, are criminals of the worst kind who need to be deported.  Yet, the majority of individuals they have apprehended and deported or are trying to deport do not fit that description.  In fact, according to many news reports, many apprehended individuals were done so without knowing their criminal records.  At least in Los Angeles, the empirical evidence is that ICE is using racial profiling to target and arrest individuals regardless of their "criminal" records.  This has resulted (as I had predicted in other social media posts) in U.S. citizens being arrested and detained for deportation.  

Earlier this year, foreign students across the nation actively enrolled in academic programs started to receive notices their student visas were being immediately revoked and they were to immediately return to their home countries.  The reason provided in many of the notices was evidence of criminal activity that was a violation of their visa.  So what were those crimes?  In many cases, things most of us would dismiss as minor, like a parking ticket.  In many instances, the student had properly resolved their "crime" by paying the fine, going to court, or some other legally accepted process.  Yet, just the fact they had this minor infraction resulted in their visa cancellation.  These students are not drug lords, gang members, murderers, or any of the other adjectives the current administration has used in their public declarations to described both legal and illegal immigrants.  These are smart kids who are working towards some advanced degree in an attempt to build a career and a life.  

I am aware of two students at my institution who received such notices and had to deal with them.  One went so far as to retain legal representation to handle their case.  But, then the national injection was issued and the student, at least for a moment, did not have to return home.  However, they had spent a significant amount of money for their legal representation and now find themselves short of money to pay for tuition for the coming school year.  I don't know how that student is currently dealing with that situation.  However, none of these students are out of the woods....the recent Supreme Court decisions that resulted in greater latitude for the Executive Branch now puts these students at risk again.

The additional reason for targeting foreign students has to do with the "extortion-based" approach to governance that has been the model this administration has been using with respect to many of its policies.  Foreign students make up significant proportions of student populations at many academic institutions and many of them pay full tuition, since they are not eligible for various forms of financial aid, particularly Federally-based programs.  It's an easy target to hit the pocketbooks of universities to pressure them into accepting changes the administration wants to implement at American universities (this will be another segment in this series). 

Should a Country's Politics Penalize the Individual Student?

This administration has significantly politicized many aspects of this nation that should be non-partisan.  They are faithfully following the overall political strategy outlined in Project 2025 and politicizing every aspect of government and even the public.  However, many aspects of Project 2025 had already taken root even before the project was publicly released.

Finding its roots in the first Trump administration the House of Representatives created the House Select Committee on the CCP.  Copied directly from the committee's website: "The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is committed to working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values."  While this sounds noble and just, many of the committee's activities have been rooted in racist views, animosity towards the Chinese Communist government, and extended to Chinese civilians, foreign, legal resident, or U.S. citizen.  One can only naturally look back to the McCarthy era and note many similarities.

The Select Committee recently sent to a number of universities across the country a letter with a list of 20 questions regarding Chinese nationals enrolled in their degree programs.  The letter cites the threat to national security, how universities have become dependent on foreign tuition monies, and the need to address this threat to national security.  However, personally, I am not aware there is a true "threat" to national security.  Yes, there have been individual cases of either espionage or loss of intellectual knowledge, but not at the level that these letters and the Select Committee's Press Release hints at.  In fact, historically the "national security" argument as been repetitively used as an excuse to work around laws, norms, and even the U.S. Constitution.  Furthermore, there have been a number of prominent cases where the Justice Department (not just this administration) had targeted academics of Chinese ancestry, only to find no evidence of wrongdoing.  Sadly, the zeal with which these individuals were targeted was not matched with an equally zealous apology once they were exonerated.  A basic flaw in our justice system.  Many of these victims found their careers forever damaged, their reputations irreparably tarnished, and some unable to cope with these stresses even committing suicide.

The Chinese government has traditionally flaunted many norms of international relations to move their agenda forward.  No different than any other nation, but they clearly are on the fringe of acceptable behavior.  Nobody is saying China is a saint among nations.  But to take out our poor relations with another government on individuals is not holding to our principles as a democratic nation.  Why punish all Chinese students?  Why create excuses to cancel their visas, when they have essentially held up their end of the visa agreement?  Why disrupt our biomedical and scientific research by yanking out individuals actively working on projects who have done no wrong?

Like the damage caused by clawing back research grants and reshaping research priorities to meet a political agenda (again, a future topic), casting a dark cloud over current foreign students has already damaged the American research enterprise and who knows how much additional damage will be caused if this direction continues.   

 

The Attack on Biomedical Research - Part 2, Education

Biomedical research does not move forward without the talented and creative individuals who generate the scientific questions and do the research.  While the Principle Investigator (PI; the head of the lab) typically generates the scientific question, the studies to address these questions are not successful without the research team the PI assembles.  For example, my own team includes a study coordinator, a programmer/analyst, students, and other support staff.  Each one of these individuals has gone through their own educational process and training and make their own unique contributions to the overall success of research conducted in the U.S.  While the PI might get the bulk of the fame and notoriety associated with the work, no PI is successful without their research team.  It is, indeed, a team effort.

Reflecting on my own education, I completed a bachelor's degree in biological science that included work-study as part of my financial aid.  Work-study allowed me to work in a lab and start to learn more about how research is done.  My first job was to measure glucose in plasma samples using a YSI Model 23A glucose auto-analyzer (this will mean nothing to most of you, but maybe generate a chuckle in those who know).  Some of the measurements I made contributed to publications in which my minor contribution was noted in the acknowledgements section of the papers.  Progressing to a master's degree in applied biometry (basically biostatistics), I was involved in the design and execution of a clinical study that led to one of my first publications.  This study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and partly supported my salary.  My training as a Ph.D. student was partly supported by an NIH grant awarded to my mentor, but I was also supported on an NIH T-32 training grant.  The T-32 is a grant that supports training of students and post-docs in specialized areas of research and provides additional training beyond the standard curriculum.  These grants are written by the faculty of different Ph.D. programs and are used to support Ph.D. students throughout their training.  As I completed my Ph.D. and transitioned into my post-doctoral training, I was supported in my first year on another T-32 grant, but then was awarded my own F-32 fellowship from the NIH.  The F series of fellowships are designed to support the research and training of individuals students and post-docs.  I wrote my own F-32 research proposal that was reviewed and scored high enough to be funded.  These all led to my first independent research grant from the American Diabetes Association that formed the basis of my future research program.

All these mechanisms, work-study, individual research grants, T-32s, F-type fellowships, and various other grants are critical in supporting the education and training of future scientists.  Without them, we don't have the next generation of talent and we don't have the workforce necessary to move biomedical science forward.  I'm not sure I would be where I'm at today, without these various support mechanisms.  Yet, the current administration has been clawing back grants using a plethora of false narratives, which has resulted in current students losing their funding, losing their training opportunities, and casting a dark cloud over their futures.

The loss of individual research grants has been catastrophic for Ph.D. programs and in particular, current Ph.D. students whose training is dependent on those grants.  What many do not realize is that these grants provide support for individual trainees, providing not just financial support, but also invaluable training opportunities as they learn from their mentors and research teams.  This goes a long way in establishing research skills in students.  The loss of individual research grants means students are losing their livelihoods and training opportunities.  The loss of their stipend means not being able to pay the rent, buy food, and pay for all the other day-to-day necessities of living.  The current administration has essentially taken their futures away from them overnight.

The clawing back of grants and the ambiguity of future of research funding due to the rash behavior of the current administration means Ph.D. programs across the nation have accepted smaller incoming classes for Fall '25.  Some have even retracted offers initially extended prior to the implementation of the these new policies.  So, a large number of students who thought they were starting a Ph.D. program this fall, abruptly learned their opportunity was gone and with the deadline for acceptance long past, have no program to start in the fall.  The additional review and restructuring of student visas has added additional unnecessary chaos that has huge negative impact on the future of the U.S. research enterprise (a topic for a separate segment in this series).  

The current administration's positions have been short-sighted, but also unnecessarily hastily implemented.  It is very clear little to no thought has been given to what the actual consequences of their actions are.  The approach of, "Oh, you've got a blister on your toe, we're gonna have to amputate your leg" approach to everything has clearly not worked, as they keep learning what their actions really mean for America.  How many times have you heard after they've removed whole parts or fired staff of entire segments of the government, "Oh, we didn't mean to get rid of THAT office" or "Oh, we didn't mean to fire THOSE people."  These are real people with lives, families to support, and futures to build.  They aren't abstract items you tick off a list.  Long term damage to America's research enterprise has already been done.  We have already created a long-term shortage of well-trained research professionals by having to shrink our educational programs.  Recovery from this will take decades.  In the meantime, if this administration continues these policies, the damage will extend beyond decades and will have profound effects on peoples' health as research cutbacks result in slower progress on critical question.

Not a year ago, I could robustly make an argument to a young person to consider a career in science.  Particularly those students who wanted to make a difference in society.  Biomedical science is one area where "making a difference" comes in many different forms and has a special sense of personal satisfaction that cannot be found in other professions.  We ARE making a difference.  However, given the current situation, I am finding it more and more difficult to tell young people they should consider a career in science.