One of The US government’s top science and research labs are taking steps that could scare off foreign scientists – a change by lawmakers and sources say WIRED could cost the country valuable expertise and damage the agency’s credibility.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps define the framework that underlies everything from cybersecurity to semiconductor manufacturing. Some of NIST’s recent work includes establishing guidelines for securing artificial intelligence systems and identifying health issues for air purifiers and firefighting gloves. Many of the agency’s thousands of staff, postdoctoral researchers, contractors and guest researchers come from around the world for their expertise.
“For weeks, rumors of new draconian measures have spread like wildfire, while my staff’s inquiries to NIST have gone unanswered,” Zoe Lofgren, ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, he wrote in a letter sent Thursday to NIST Acting Director Craig Burkhardt. April McClain Delaney, another Democrat on the committee, signed on to that message.
Lofgren wrote that while her staff had heard many rumors about the changes, they confirmed from anonymous sources that the Trump administration “has begun taking steps to limit the ability of foreign-born researchers to conduct work at NIST.”
The Congress letter follows: Article in the Boulder Reporting Lab on February 12, which stated that international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will be confined to a maximum of three years at NIST in the future, even though many will need five to seven years to complete their work.
A NIST official tells WIRED that some plans to hire foreign workers for the agency’s research and work experience program were recently canceled due to uncertainty about whether they could meet fresh security protocols.
The employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, says the Commerce Department, which oversees NIST, originally pushed for a ban on all foreign researchers. However, according to the employee, NIST management and staff were using more versatile policies that would allow teams to justify hiring foreign nationals instead of U.S. citizens and potentially detaining them for certain periods of time. It is unclear how effortless it will be to obtain approval for such exemptions.
Colorado Sun on Thursday reported that “foreigners” lost access to the NIST lab after business hours last month and may soon be banned from the lab altogether.
Jennifer Huergo, a spokeswoman for NIST, tells WIRED that the proposed changes are intended to protect American science from theft and abuse, echoing a similar statement issued to other media outlets this week. Huergo declined to comment on who must approve the proposal for it to be finalized and when a decision will be made. NIST spokesman Affluent Press said the agency would respond to lawmakers’ letter “through appropriate channels.”
Preventing foreign adversaries from stealing valuable American intellectual property has been a priority for both sides, and NIST is among the agencies in recent years to receive Congressional control about the adequacy of background checks and security policies. Just last month, Republican lawmakers renewed connections to impose restrictions that prevent Chinese nationals from working in or in national laboratories operated by the Department of Energy.
However, Lofgren’s letter states that the alleged restrictions on NIST researchers outside the U.S. go beyond “what is reasonable and appropriate to protect the security of research.” The letter demands transparency on the fresh policies by February 26 and a hold on them “until Congress considers whether these changes are necessary at all.”