Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the Trump administration will “aggressively revoke” visas for a segment of Chinese students.
Chinese foreign nationals studying “critical fields” or with ties to the Chinese Communist Party will be among the students targeted for removal, the top US diplomat said.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the US State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio said in a statement.
“We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” he added.
The secretary did not disclose which areas of study would constitute “critical fields.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The US grants nearly 300,000 student visas to Chinese nationals every year, according to Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), who introduced legislation to halt the practice earlier this year.
“The CCP poses an existential threat to the US,” Moore wrote on X following Rubio’s announcement. “We should not be letting 300,000 Chinese nationals into our research institutions every year.
“This is a huge move from the Trump Admin, and now Congress must codify the president’s agenda by passing my Stop CCP Visas Act.”
The congressman noted that Beijing’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires any Chinese organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work – both at home and abroad.
“We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” Moore said when he unveiled his bill in March. “Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live fire military exercises.
“This cannot continue.”
The Trump administration’s crackdown on Chinese student visa holders comes one day after Rubio ordered US embassies and consulates to pause any student visa applicant interviews, according to an internal cable obtained by Politico.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor … visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued [separate telegram], which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable read.
Rubio has already revoked at least 4,000 visas from foreign nationals charged with criminal offenses – including arson, wildlife and human trafficking, child endangerment, domestic abuse, DUI and robbery, a senior State Department official told The Post last month.
The secretary of state has also targeted students involved in anti-Israel campus protests, such as Columbia University grad Mahmoud Khalil.
Last week, an effort by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to specifically target 7,000 Harvard University students for visa revocations was blocked by a federal court.
Oakland, Calif. US District Judge Jeffrey S. White implemented a nationwide injunction barring the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of any international students or allowing immigration authorities to arrest or detain them.
Trump on Wednesday floated capping Harvard University’s foreign enrollment at 15% of its student body. The administration last month froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the elite university and last week paused its ability to enroll international students — after college leaders rebuffed administration demands to curtail antisemitic incidents and provide lists of foreign students for federal review.
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