Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration will begin “aggressively” revoking visas of Chinese students, including those studying in “critical fields.”
The announcement also prioritizes revoking the visas of those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party and came in a statement titled “New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China.”
“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,” he said in a statement.
Rubio also said all future visa applications from China or Hong Kong will be subject to increased scrutiny.
Ties between colleges and China have been intensely scrutinized in recent weeks. The House Select Committee on China sent a letter to Harvard University on May 19 “demanding transparency and accountability regarding the university’s partnerships with foreign adversaries and entities implicated in human rights abuses.”
The committee accused Harvard of training members of a paramilitary group linked with China’s genocide of Uyghur Muslims and of partnering with Chinese universities on Defense Department-funded research.
“Harvard trained members of a sanctioned Chinese paramilitary group responsible for genocide, and its researchers partnered with Chinese military universities on DoD-funded research and worked with researchers funded by the Iranian regime,” China Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) said. “These are not isolated incidents — they represent a disturbing pattern that puts U.S. national security at risk. The Select Committee’s investigation will deliver answers, expose the truth, and hold Harvard accountable to the American people.”
The government has revoked student visas or given additional scrutiny to those with visas as part of a larger anti-immigration effort. Rubio said on Monday that the State Department would not give visas to foreign officials who engage in censorship of American citizens’ speech.
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“It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil,” he said in a statement.
The Trump administration tried to cancel the visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students and researchers who had ties to military universities in China during the president’s first term.