Marco Rubio Just Opened a New Front in Trump’s War on Higher Education
The Trump administration is escalating its war on international students by moving to cancel the visas of Chinese students in the U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday night that the White House would work to “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese nationals who are studying in “critical fields” or have ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Rubio also said that the State Department would “enhance scrutiny” of all visa applications from China, including Hong Kong.
The administration’s decision will likely escalate tensions between China and the U.S. and cause issues on university campuses, as students from China make up the second-largest nationality among international students in the country. In 2024, 20 percent of student visas to the United States were granted to Chinese nationals, and there are an estimated 275,000 Chinese students currently in the U.S.
Universities across the country depend on Chinese students in their research laboratories, and the fact that many pay full tuition is of great financial benefit. Chinese students electing to further their education in the U.S. are often the most academically talented students.
It’s not clear what Rubio meant by “critical fields,” although U.S. officials have been worried about Chinese researchers in the physical sciences, according to The New York Times. Rubio also didn’t elaborate on how the U.S. will determine affiliations and loyalties to the CCP, leaving open the possibility that authorities could draw such conclusions on individuals without evidence, as they have with Salvadoran and Venezuelan immigrants regarding gang membership.
The move is latest salvo on international students by the White House, which has sought to revoke visas and deport students from other countries on dubious grounds ranging from alleged antisemitism to allegedly smuggling embryos into the country that were actually brought for research purposes, and various minor infractions, including one case of a Japanese student who caught too many fish on a church trip.
Rubio’s announcement is also the latest provocation of China by President Trump, who inflamed ties with Beijing with his ill-planned tariffs before backtracking earlier this month. Will China retaliate against this attack on its students in the U.S., and will Trump stick to this decision or once again chicken out?