A group of university employees and community members is asking Iowa lawmakers to reject a bill targeting highly skilled workers from certain countries.
Around 100 people rallied outside the state Capitol Saturday afternoon to oppose the bill. House File 2513 would ban the state's public universities, private colleges and community colleges from hiring people on H-1B visas from countries considered foreign adversaries or state sponsors of terrorism. This includes countries like China and Iran.
Zhengyuan Zhu, who is the director of a statistics research center at Iowa State University, said academic departments, especially in STEM fields, will take a hit if the bill is signed into law.
“It’s clear that it’s going to restrict us, the higher education institutions, like universities — private and public — from hiring the best talent to do the job,” he said, speaking for himself, not on behalf of ISU.
Colleges would be blocked from entering into such contracts with H-1B visa holders beginning July 1. Lawmakers said the bill would affect contracts moving forward after that date.
The bill already passed the House and is now eligible for debate in the Senate. Lawmakers in support of the bill said it will protect sensitive research at Iowa colleges.