Senator Tom Cotton has introduced legislation to track foreign student and faculty visa holders in an effort to safeguard the sensitive research being done at American universities.
The ‘Educational Visa Transparency Act’ expands the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to include all student, faculty, and staff visa holders in U.S. higher education.
It would also allow other federal agencies to access this information. The introduction of this bill follows several concerning cases in which foreign nationals, including those from Communist China, attempted to smuggle dangerous biological materials into the United States under the guise of academic research.
“Unmonitored foreign nationals in the labs and research centers of our colleges and universities pose a grave national security threat. My bill will require tracking all student and faculty visas to ensure foreign nationals aren’t stealing valuable research,” said Senator Cotton.
The Educational Visa Transparency Act would require the inclusion of all visa holders serving as students, faculty, or staff in U.S. higher education within the SEVIS database, and authorize the Department of Justice to have access to the list as well, enabling more effective real-time monitoring, fraud detection, and rapid response to national security threats posed by foreign nationals in sensitive academic environments.
OPT Fair Tax Act
Earlier in 2025, Senator Tom Cotton introduced the OPT Fair Tax Act, which proposes to make foreign students enrolled in the OPT program and their employers pay FICA taxes. OPT Fair Tax Act, aimed at requiring both foreign students participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program and their employers to pay Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes.
The foreign students who would enroll for the OPT program may soon see a lower take-home pay as the US lawmakers prepare to tax the earnings of OPT foreign workers, by subjecting them to insurance tax.
US Senator Tom Cotton had also introduced the Visa Cap Enforcement Act to restrict the ability of universities, research institutions, and non-profits to hire an unlimited number of foreign workers. The Visa Cap Enforcement Act aims to eliminate four exemptions to the H-1B visa cap, including one for foreigners who hold a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution.