US is killing its own tech dominance with xenophobic bills – RT World News

A new bill introduced in Texas by State Representative Tony Tinderholt would, if passed, bar undocumented students, as well as all students from China, Iran, Russia and North Korea, to study at universities in Texas. Although apparently unlikely to reach the governor’s office, it still reflects a racist and counterproductive attitude on the part of some US officials.

Republicans in the Texas State Senate have also introduced a bill that would ban citizens of those same four countries from owning property in Texas under the guise of security and curbing foreign influence on the economy of the United States. State. However, Democratic Party activists and lawmakers have protested the bill over what they claim is its xenophobia and its potential to deter law-abiding residents from investing in the state.

Asian Americans responded en masse to testify against the legislation before a Senate committee last week, saying it would contribute to the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes in the country while fueling prejudice and punishing perpetrators. ordinary residents who have legal work visas. Others said it would be impossible for legal residents to buy homes for their families, after working for years to achieve those dreams.

The federal government is, of course, indirectly complicit in this xenophobia following the shameful “China initiativeundertaken by the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump. The misguided move looked into Chinese students and professors for alleged economic espionage, but turned into a neo-McCarthyan witch hunt that revealed little evidence of wrongdoing.

This behavior by state and federal authorities has created a hostile environment for Chinese and foreign students, who are now beginning to question the very value of studying in the United States. It has also seriously damaged the credibility and quality of American higher education. For example, in October 2022, the World University Rankings published by Times Higher Education stated that the share of the world’s top 100 universities is on track to see China overtake the United States.

Since 2018, the number of US universities in the top 100 has increased from 43 to 34. Meanwhile, China has increased from two to seven.”The data is very clear: America can no longer take its decades-long dominance of global higher education and research for granted, and it is China that is rising to the challenge.” said Phil Baty, the ranking editor. “If current trends remained the same, we would see China overtake the United States in the coming years.”

Meanwhile, the United States sees China outperforming it in key innovation metrics. According to data from the National Science Foundation, China held 49% of the global patent share in 2020, up from 16% a decade earlier, while the United States fell from 15% to 10% in the same period. period. Similarly, a study in the journal Scientometric found that China eclipsed the United States in “high impact“scientific papers.

The United States has a dual problem: Enrollment at domestic universities is shrinking while foreign talent is being driven out by politics, shrinking the talent pool on both sides. In 2021, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported that enrollment at US colleges and universities was on track to drop by about 500,000 undergraduates this fall. The drop in college attendance is worsening an already dire situation for the country’s future workforce that began with the Covid-19 pandemic, the data shows. Overall, undergraduate enrollment has been declining since around 2012.

As for overseas students, it’s a mix of the US’s failure to scientifically manage its Covid-19 outbreak and lingering political apprehensions pushing Chinese and overseas students to study elsewhere. This is not insignificant for American innovation because it is no exaggeration to say that Silicon Valley was built on the backs of foreign talent. According to a 2013 report by the Immigration Policy Center, from the years 1995 to 2005, more than 52% of startups in Silicon Valley had at least one immigrant founder.

By continuing to introduce xenophobic and outright racist laws and policies, state and federal authorities are scaring off foreign talent — and, in effect, holding back future American innovation and America’s status as a hub of innovation. America’s technological dominance is seriously threatened by these discriminatory attitudes that translate into politics. If trends continue and foreigners invest their talents in other markets, the United States will no longer be a leading technology hub. Government officials will then only have themselves to blame.