The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has terminated around 70 foreign contract researchers from adversarial nations to reduce risks to American agriculture, Reuters reported Friday.
A USDA spokesperson confirmed that the agency “identified approximately 70 individuals from countries of concern” who were working under contract on federal agricultural research, according to Reuters. The firings follow a new security initiative launched in July by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, which aims to protect the U.S. food supply from the influence of adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Most of the researchers affected were Chinese postdoctoral scientists working on two-year contracts at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA’s in-house research agency, according to Thomas Henderson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1657, which represents ARS staff in California, as reported by Reuters. Henderson noted that these researchers had been vetted prior to their hiring.
“The individuals working on these contracts from countries of concern will no longer be able to work on USDA projects,” a USDA spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
The USDA did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Two Chinese nationals affiliated with the University of Michigan were busted in June for allegedly smuggling biological materials in the U.S. Additionally, it was discovered in May that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents were allegedly trying to gain access to sensitive STEM research and gather intelligence on U.S. research related to China at Stanford University.
Rollins issued an “America First Memorandum” on July 8, directing all USDA offices to submit a list of current arrangements with “any foreign person or entity or any U.S. citizen or entity subject to foreign ownership, control, or influence” to be assessed for “potential risks to American agriculture.” Rollins’ memo also prohibits USDA employees and affiliates from authoring publications with foreign nationals without departmental approval, and forbids them from accepting funding or entering into arrangements with the government of a country of concern.
Moreover, the USDA announced the National Farm Security Action Plan in July, which looks to block Chinese nationals from purchasing American farmland and end departmental “agreements going to people and entities in countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.” Chinese firms and investors owned over 383,000 acres of farmland in the U.S. as of 2021.
Chinese nationals are taking advantage of rural areas to illegally grow and sell marijuana, potentially funneling the profits back to China, the DCNF previously reported. In May, a group of men linked to a CCP front group were charged with running an illegal marijuana farm in rural Maine, with potentially over 100 such operations in the state.
“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our Nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research, and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” Rollins said at a press conference on July 8. “Every family depends on what our farmers do … and that is exactly why [American agriculture] is under threat.”
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