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What We’re Reading this Week (July 20th-24th)

Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.

Rep. John Lewis: On the 17th, Congressman John Lewis passed away. He was a well-known civil rights activist and had a long and successful career in the US House of Representatives.

Federal Law Enforcement in US Cities: Citizens and local leadership of several major cities, most notably Portland, have expressed outrage at unidentified federal law enforcement being deployed to quell protests, including officers from DHS and DoJ. The Administration has indicated that further units could be deployed. Read more.

China Relations: The State Department announced on Wednesday that the US will order China to close its Consulate General in Houston in order to protect US intellectual property and the privacy of US citizens. The US accused China of espionage and attempting to interfere in American internal affairs. China called the move an “unprecedented escalation”, and in turn, will close the US Consulate in Chengdu. More at Politico.

US Detains Chinese Researcher: Federal law enforcement has detained Juan Tang, a researcher at UC Davis, who is accused of lying on her US visa application regarding her prior Chinese military service and Communist Party affiliation. She is believed to have been taking shelter at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco since she first met with investigators last month. More at Bloomberg.

Michael Cohen: A federal judge ruled that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal attorney, was improperly taken into custody earlier this month. The judge ruled that the US Government acted in a “retaliatory” manner following the release of his tell-all book. More at CNN.

USCIS Furloughs: US Citizenship and Immigration Services was set to furlough more than 13,000 employees until Congress intervened and found new revenue estimates which would leave USCIS with a budget surplus. Furloughs are now delayed another month. Revenue shortfalls with USCIS are expected to be addressed in subsequent stimulus packages. More here.

CDC Changes Course on Schools: New guidance from CDC strongly recommends reopening schools in fall, claiming that children are less likely to become sick from COVID-19 or spread it, and that they will suffer from being out of the classroom. However, the guidelines do recommend reevaluating if their is uncontrolled community transmission. More at CNN.

ICE Clarifies Rules for Autumn 2020

The ICE Student Exchange and Visitor Program has published an updated FAQ clarifying certain issues of concern for Autumn 2020. The FAQ explains that F and M students, and schools certified by SEVP, should continue to abide by the guidance published in March. The document has additional information for DSOs.

Summary:

ICE has clarified that international students who were enrolled in a US institution as of March 9th, 2020, may be issued an I-20 and retain their non-immigrant status even if their classes are entirely online. These students may remain in the US if they are already here. If they have subsequently left the country, they are likely eligible to return to the US on their existing student visa. Travel may be subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Visa eligibility for travel to the US is determined by the Department of State, not ICE.

However, initial students, who were not enrolled in a US institution as of March 9th, 2020, may not be issued an I-20 if their classes are entirely online. Thus, they cannot obtain an F-1 Visa for travel to the US if they are taking entirely online classes.

Spending Bills Move to the House Floor

After a flurry of activities in subcommittee and full committee the last two weeks, the vast majority of FY2021 spending bills is scheduled to move to the House floor this week and next for consideration by the full chamber.  Rather than considering them individually, the bills will be grouped into two different “minibus” legislative packages.

The first grouping of bills, H.R 7608, is made up of four pieces of legislation and it is slated for consideration later this week:  State-Foreign Operations; Agriculture; Interior; and, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs.  A summary of the package, prepared by the House Democratic staff, is available here.

The second batch, H.R. 7617, is currently scheduled for floor action next week.  This second minibus pulls together seven of the eight remaining spending measures:  Defense; Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy and Water; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Labor-HHS-Education; and, Transportation-Housing.  A summary of the different parts of the large bill is available here.

Should these packages pass, only the Legislative Branch would remain unapproved in the House by the end of next week.

What We’re Reading this Week (July 13th-17th, 2020)

Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.

Seattle Police- Mayor Jenny Durkan wants to reallocate $76 million in the 2021 SPD budget. More at Seattle Times.

End of Fulbright in China- President Trump has indicated the administration will take steps to end the Fulbright program in China and Hong Kong, as part of an executive order ending policy exemptions for Hong Kong. More at Inside Higher Ed.

Review of College Tax Exempt Status- Legal analysts believe the IRS would face legal hurdles to reconsider the tax exempt status of colleges and universities. More analyses at Bloomberg.

Hacking COVID Research- US, UK, and Canadian intelligence services have asserted that the Russian Government has hacked COVID-19 vaccine research centers in the UK. More at BBC.

Additional Information from ICE and the Department of State

On July 15th, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement published an updated FAQ for SEVP stakeholders following the repeal of the “July 6th Directive”. Of note, initial students should not travel to the US to begin their program. SEVP provides further guidance for designated school officials.

Additionally, the US Department of State has announced that certain visa holders departing from the Schengen Area, UK, and Ireland may travel to the US, even under current prohibitions. This does not apply to travelers departing from China, Brazil, or Iran.

  • F-1 and M-1 visa holders do not need to apply for an exception to travel to the US.
  • J-1 visa holders should contact their nearest US Embassy or Consulate to request an exception to travel to the US.
  • H-1B and other visa holders must qualify for a national interest exception. This requires that they are seeking entry for purposes related to the public health response to the pandemic, humanitarian, or national security reasons. If travelers believe they qualify, they should contact their nearest US Embassy or Consulate.