The federal government will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese international students, including those studying in “critical fields,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday — the latest restriction on foreign students.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. 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 wrote in a statement.
Rubio also said the government will “revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”
China is the second-largest country of origin for international students, behind only India. In the 2023-24 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States.
The action comes at a time of intensifying scrutiny of the ties between U.S. higher education and China. House Republicans this month pressed Duke University to cut its ties with a Chinese university, saying it allowed Chinese students to gain access to federally-funded research at Duke.
Last year, House Republicans issued a report warning that hundreds of millions of dollars in defense funding was going to research partnerships linked to the Chinese government, providing “back-door access to the very foreign adversary nation whose aggression these capabilities are necessary to protect against.”
The announcement came a day after the State Department told embassies and consulates worldwide to temporarily stop scheduling new student visa interviews, in a cable obtained by CBS News. The cable said the department is preparing “expanded social media vetting” of visa applicants.
The two policy changes from the State Department added to uncertainty for America’s international students, who have faced intensifying scrutiny from the Trump administration.
The government has attempted to revoke legal status for thousands of international students, many of whom appeared to draw federal scrutiny due to minor legal infractions — though a federal judge has halted that practice. And the administration has sought to deport several pro-Palestinian student activists under a law allowing visas to be revoked if somebody poses “adverse foreign policy consequences.”
Earlier this week, the Trump administration tried to halt all international student enrollments at Harvard University. A judge blocked the move, part of a wider battle between the government and the Ivy League school over its handling of campus protests.
President Trump said Wednesday that Harvard, whose current student population is more than 25% international, should limit that percentage to about 15%.
“I want to make sure the foreign students are people that can love our country,” Mr. Trump said.
