[La-cgs] Act 767 questions

[B. Ramu Ramachandran]

Nancy:

This email is meant for you bit I am copying the mailing list in case others want to jump on this thread. Thank you for agreeing to compile the questions/concerns from this group for John Maloy.

The main problems I see with Act 767 are these:

1) There does not appear to be an official list of Foreign Countries of Concern (FCoC) that we can consult.

2) The Act leaves it up to the institutions to determine whether the individual's past history poses a concern. Section 1826.3 (D) (6) says (see slide 13 of John Maloy's presentation, my bold-face): "Requesting further investigation, including but not limited to a second background check performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Louisiana State Police, or any other qualified local law enforcement agency, if any of the individual's information provided on the online non-immigrant visa application Form DS-160 raises any security concerns for the institution about the individual's relationship with a foreign country of concern."

3) Section 1826.3.(A) (1) (c) (Page 5 of the Act) says the additional screening should kick in if "The person has at least one year of prior employment or training in a foreign country of concern as defined in R.S. 17:1826.2, except for employment or training by an agency of the United States government." If the practice of providing part-time employment to graduate students is common in other countries, then it seems to me that we are essentially prohibited from hiring anyone with an advanced degree from a FCoC as faculty, or as a PhD student (assuming they have earned a Master's degree from the FCoC). (The additional screening mentioned above will probably take so long that a candidate for a position may not wait for it to complete.)

As I mentioned at the meeting, I am sympathetic to the spirit of the Act and agree that the US should do more to safeguard its intellectual property. I am attaching the report from The New York Times that I mentioned. It is long but once you start reading, I think you will keep reading.

Best regards,
Ramu
--------- B. Ramu Ramachandran Associate Vice President for Research & Dean of Graduate School T. L. James Eminent Scholar Chair Professor P. O. Box 7923 Louisiana Tech University Ruston, LA 71272, USA 318-257-4304
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