Officials: Laptops for Alabama schools seized by US agency

More than 4,000 new laptop computers bound for an Alabama school district are being held by customs due to human rights concerns, weeks before the school year is set to begin with increased online learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to education officials.

Etowah County Schools Superintendent Alan Cosby said Tuesday that his district ordered the Chromebook computers in June through a reseller called Trinity3 Technology, which helps supply schools with remote learning technology.

The laptops were scheduled for delivery to his system this week, but the company informed district officials that the computers were being held by the U.S. Department of Commerce in customs because they involved an electronics manufacturer accused of involvement in human rights violations in China, Cosby said.

Cosby said his district, which surrounds the city of Gadsden, was told it might not receive the products until October.

The superintendent said the holdup involved Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co. Ltd., one of 11 Chinese companies that the U.S. imposed trade sanctions on last month as the Commerce Department cracked down on imports made with suspected forced labor, as well as companies implicated in other human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Scott Gill, President and CEO of Trinity3 Technology, said he could not comment specifically about Etowah's order because the company does not disclose customer-specific information, but confirmed: “a number of devices were held up that were scheduled for deliveries to schools across the country."

Cosby said he never received any communications from Commerce Department or customs officials, but did reach out to the offices of U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby, a Republican, and Doug Jones, a...