Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday introduced the USA will “aggressively revoke visas” from Chinese language college students, together with “these with connections to the Chinese language Communist Get together or finding out in essential fields.”
The U.S. State Division will work with the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) to revoke the visas, and it’ll additionally “revise visa standards to reinforce scrutiny of all future visa functions from the Folks’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” according to a statement from Rubio.
“The U.S. will start revoking visas of Chinese language college students, together with these with connections to the Chinese language Communist Get together or finding out in essential fields,” Rubio mentioned on the social platform X.
The announcement comes a day after the Trump administration directed U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to pause scheduling visa interviews for worldwide college students because it mulls increasing “social media screening and vetting” for candidates.
The State Division issued an inside cable Tuesday, signed by Rubio, stating that “efficient instantly, in preparation for an growth of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections shouldn’t add any extra pupil or trade customer (F, M, and J) visa appointment capability till additional steerage is issued [separate telegram], which we anticipate within the coming days,” multiple outlets reported.
Earlier this yr, the administration revoked the visas of thousands of worldwide college students.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement later restored greater than 1,500 foreign student visa registrations in its reporting system.
Final week, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) moved to terminate Harvard College’s Pupil and Trade Customer Program, consequently barring the Ivy League school from enrolling worldwide college students. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned the worldwide college students at Harvard would wish to switch to a different establishment or danger jeopardizing their authorized standing.
On Wednesday, President Trump advised imposing a 15 p.c cap on the proportion of overseas college students that Harvard College and different U.S. greater training establishments can admit.
The president, whereas talking to reporters within the Oval Workplace, advised that worldwide college students take up an excessive amount of of the coed physique and raised points over a number of the overseas college students he referred to as “troublemakers.”
“These nations aren’t serving to us. They’re not investing in Harvard … we’re. So why would 31 p.c — why would a quantity so massive,” he mentioned. “I feel they need to have a cap of perhaps round 15 p.c, not 31 p.c.”
“We’ve got folks [who] wish to go to Harvard and different faculties, [but] they will’t get in as a result of we’ve overseas college students there. However I wish to be sure that the overseas college students are folks that may love our nation. We don’t wish to see procuring facilities exploding. We don’t wish to see the sort of riots that you simply had,” Trump mentioned. “And I’ll let you know what, lots of these college students didn’t go anyplace. A lot of these college students have been troublemakers attributable to the novel left lunatics on this nation.”
He additionally mentioned, with out elaborating, that he doesn’t need “radical folks” coming to U.S. as college students and “making hassle in our nation.”
Up to date at 10:03 p.m. EDT