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Over the next decade, China will attempt to increase its “cultural soft power” and to become the premier academic destination in Asia by attracting greater numbers of foreign students to enroll in degree courses, reports China Daily. To accomplish its goal of having 150,000 foreign students enrolled in degree courses in 2020, China’s central government will make additional national scholarships available and will encourage provincial governments, schools, enterprises and social organizations to expand their scholarship programs.

China hit a record high of 240,000 international students in 2009, but less than half enrolled in degree courses – the majority (60%) were enrolled in Chinese language courses. Since the 1950s, 1.7 million overseas students have studied in China. China’s ambitious plan includes enrollment, in 2020, of 500,000 foreign students, which is nearly one-third of the last half century’s combined total.
 

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On September 29, 2010, Senator Orrin Hatch (R–UT) introduced the “Strengthening Our Commitment to Legal Immigration and America’s Security Act” (S.3901) (pdf). The bill is the third notable piece of immigration legislation introduced last week, together with the comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced by Senators Menendez and Leahy, and Senator Chambliss’ HARVEST Act (relating to agricultural workers). Senator Hatch’s bill addresses numerous immigration enforcement topics, and notable provisions include:

• Illegal aliens could only be paroled or granted deferred action on a case-by-case basis (for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit). Mass paroles and deferrals would be prohibited.
• Any state, county, city, or township that is eligible to participate in the Secure Communities program or to cross-designate local law enforcement officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions under section 287(g) (pdf) and does not participate in such programs may not receive compensation for incarceration expenses of illegal aliens.
• Individuals known or reasonably believed to be members of a known criminal organization regularly engaged in transnational criminal activity would be ineligible for visas.
• Elimination of the Diversity Visa Program, unless Congress signs off on changes designed to combat fraud and eliminate abuse in the program.
• Annual reporting by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on welfare benefits provided to states, and the portion thereof provided to illegal immigrants.
• Limiting states’ expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage to noncitizen children or noncitizen pregnant women.
• Requiring the IRS to notify Social Security number holders if the agency suspects fraudulent use of their number for employment verification purposes.

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Senator Saxby Chambliss (R–GA) has introduced S. 3912, “The Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely & Temporarily Act of 2010” (“HARVEST Act”). The HARVEST Act aims to provide a non-amnesty option for temporary agricultural workers, streamline the H-2A temporary worker program, and discourage the hiring of undocumented workers. Additionally, according to Senator Chambliss, the bill would:

• provide a mechanism for addressing the presence of undocumented workers on farms without providing a new path to citizenship;
• ensure that U.S. nationals’ jobs are protected; 
• require the U.S. Department of Labor to increase random audits and investigations of H-2A employers;
• limit the duration of a foreign worker’s continuous stay in the United States without returning to his or her home country;
• require H-2A employers to verify hired agricultural workers’ eligibility; and
• ensure that the H-2A program works for agricultural employers with year-round operations.

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On September 29, 2010, Senators Robert Menendez (D–NJ) and Patrick Leahy (D–VT) introduced “The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010” (S. 3932). According to Senator Menendez, the bill “addresses long-standing, wide-ranging flaws in the immigration system that have been priorities of groups on each side of the immigration reform debate.” The bill was introduced shortly before Congress adjourned for its mid-term election recess. As reported by The Hill, Senator Menendez defended his timing for introducing the bill by stating that it could lead to possible “lame-duck movement” on the legislation, and in the longer term it serves as an "invitation to bring Republican colleagues to discussion" on immigration reform.

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