Overview
- Senator Tom Cotton introduced the Educational Visa Transparency Act in the Senate, and the measure has been read twice as it awaits further action.
- The bill would require federally funded colleges to list every non‑U.S. citizen studying or working on campus in SEVIS, a Homeland Security system that tracks foreign students.
- Universities would file an initial report within 60 days of enactment, then update the data 30 days after each registration period, with access for DHS, State, Justice, and Education.
- Cotton frames the plan as a national‑security step to protect sensitive research, while academic groups warn of heavy paperwork, privacy risks, and chilled international collaboration.
- Coverage links the push to recent visa revocations and alleged attempts to bring biological materials into the U.S., as the Times of India notes the large potential impact on Indians, with about 360,000 students in the U.S.