US to 'Aggressively Revoke' Chinese Student Visas, Rubio Announces

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the United States will begin "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields," according to Politico, marking a significant escalation in the Donald Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

The announcement targets students from China, which represents the second-largest source of international students in the US after India, with over 270,000 Chinese students enrolled during the 2023-2024 academic year — roughly a quarter of all foreign students in American institutions.

The policy extends beyond current students, with Rubio stating the State Department will "revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong," according to his official statement reported by Politico. However, the announcement did not specify exactly how many students would be affected by the new measures.

The move has drawn sharp criticism from education experts who warn of severe economic consequences. International students contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy during the 2023-2024 school year and supported nearly 400,000 jobs, according to data cited in the original Politico report.

"The chilling effect on Chinese students choosing the United States as their preferred place to go for study will be enormous," Rosie Levine, executive director of the US-China Education Trust, told Politico, noting that China has 99 million Communist Party members, potentially casting a wide net for enforcement.

Critics argue the policy is overly broad and could harm US competitiveness. Mary Gallagher, dean of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs, told Politico that "all universities in China are in some ways affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, so it seems to me overreach and damaging to not just US-China educational exchange, but also to US science and technological competitiveness."

The announcement comes as part of broader Trump administration actions targeting higher education, including frozen federal funding for major universities and proposed caps on international student enrollment at institutions like Harvard University.

The policy reflects escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, with House Republicans already pushing legislation to restrict partnerships between US and Chinese academic institutions over national security concerns.