A leading American research laboratory appears to be pressuring foreign scientists

One of Top US government Scientific research laboratories The agency is taking steps that could alienate foreign scientists, a shift that lawmakers and sources tell WIRED could cost the country valuable expertise and damage the agency’s credibility.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helps define the frameworks underpinning everything from cybersecurity to semiconductor manufacturing. Some of NIST’s recent work includes developing guidelines for Securing artificial intelligence systems Identify health concerns by using air purifiers and firefighting gloves. Many thousands of agency staff, postdoctoral scientists, contractors and guest researchers are brought in from around the world for their specialized expertise.

“For weeks, rumors of stringent new measures have spread like wildfire, while my staff’s inquiries to NIST have gone unanswered,” said Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. He wrote in a letter It was sent to acting NIST Director Craig Burkhart on Thursday. April McClain Delaney, a fellow Democrat on the committee, co-signed the letter.

Lofgren wrote that although her staff had heard many rumors of the changes, what they confirmed through unnamed sources was that the Trump administration “began taking steps to limit the ability of foreign-born researchers to conduct their work at NIST.”

Congressional Speech A follows Boulder Reporting Lab article On February 12, he said that international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will be limited to a maximum of three years at NIST from now on, although many of them need five to seven years to complete their work.

A NIST employee told WIRED that some plans to bring in foreign workers through the agency’s Research and Professional Experience program were recently canceled due to uncertainty about whether they would make it through new security protocols. The employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, says the agency has not yet announced widely what the new hurdles are or why it believes they are justified.

On Thursday, The Colorado Sun I mentioned “Non-citizens” lost after-hours access to the NIST lab last month, and may soon be banned from the entire facility.

Jennifer Huergo, a spokeswoman for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, told WIRED that the proposed changes are intended to protect American science from theft and misuse, echoing a similar statement made this week to other media outlets. Huergo declined to comment on who needs to approve the proposal until it is finalized and when a decision will be made. She also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers’ letter.

Preventing foreign adversaries from stealing valuable American intellectual property has been a bipartisan priority, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology being among the agencies that in recent years has obtained Congressional audit About the adequacy of background checks and security policies. Just last month, Republican lawmakers Renewed calls To establish restrictions prohibiting Chinese citizens from working at or with national laboratories operated by the Department of Energy.

But Lofgren’s letter asserts that the restrictions rumored to be imposed on non-U.S. scientists at NIST go beyond “what is reasonable and appropriate to protect the security of research.” The letter demands transparency about the new policies by February 26 and a pause “so Congress can weigh in on whether these changes are necessary at all.”

The potential loss of research talent at NIST would add to a series of other Trump administration policies that some U.S. technology industry leaders have warned will dismantle the lives of immigrant researchers already living in the United States and hinder economic growth. Hiking fees are on H-1B technical visasCanceling and implementing thousands of student visas Mass deportations are legally questionable All of which would push people eager to work in science and technology research in the United States to go elsewhere instead. As the Trump administration announced Plan to limit Postgraduate career training for international students.