The U.S. is planning to ban international STEM students as per the new National Security Strategy of Trump administration in order to restrain the transfer of technology and intellectual theft.
A few weeks ago the White House issued an NSS document, restating the decision of the administration to update the visa procedures in order to slash economic theft.
The document also mentions the importance of the international students and their contribution to the US economy which was almost $36.9 billion during 2016-2017.
However, U.S. only plan to restrict international students from specific countries to prevent intellectual theft. As of now, it is not clear as to which countries are on the list. But China was listed as one of the countries responsible for stealing billions of dollars worth of U.S. intellectual property.
NFAP executive director stated that the international students are playing an important role in the developing countries’ future in science and engineering. Also, a report by NFAP stated that about 81% of the electrical engineering student and 79% of computer science student comes from abroad.
The executive director also stated that this move will create a shortage of skilled individuals in the field of technology and will force the U.S. to hire people from abroad which mean the restriction will do more harm than good.
