Secretary of State Marco Rubio says we want to “actively” revoke Chinese student visas
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the United States is expected to “actively” revoke visas issued to China's unspecified number of students.
The action is expected to intensify the Trump administration’s conflict with universities on international students, a chaotic showdown that has upended campus life, threatening to a time of drastically cut federal funding, and threatening large amounts of college income and pouring into courtrooms across the country.
Rubio said on X that the revocation would include “people who are linked to the Chinese Communist Party or learn in key areas” without elaborating on what areas of research will be targeted or whether the move will only apply to college students.
He said in a statement that the U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security will “actively” revoke visas, while also modifying “visa standards to strengthen review of all future visa applications in the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”
The latest data from the International Education Institute says more than 1.1 million foreign students (more than half Chinese or Indian nationals) are obtained in the U.S.’s undergraduate, graduate or graduate work training program in 2023-24. The largest share of all international students attended institutions in California, the report said.
In California, Chinese students are the largest international students. California's 51,000 Chinese nationals account for one-third of the state's nearly 141,000 foreign students. As of fall 2024, there are nearly 6,000 Chinese students at the University of Southern California alone.
The University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UCLA attract the most international students.
Kevin Lu, from Shenzhen, China, received his finance degree from the University of California (USC) in December, said Rubio's statement was “really disappointing”.
Lu, who works at an investment bank in Orange County, is under a visa for “optional hands-on training,” a job authorization to international students to gain professional experience.
“After this news, I may postpone any international trips because once I leave the country, I may have greater risk of not being able to come back,” Lu said. “I wonder if they have revoked enough student visas, which will be a welcome addition to the U.S. economy, because international students are not only a source of income for universities – we pay more for tuition – but we also provide value for universities and companies.”
The announcement comes as a result of a series of policy changes related to foreign students that have influenced higher education. The Trump administration’s efforts sow fear across the country and led to some students leaving.
On Tuesday, the State Department stopped arranging visa interviews with students from abroad, aiming to relocate their research to the United States, although this is temporary. The department said it is preparing to increase scrutiny of social media activities for international students.
A few days ago, the Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll. Massachusetts agency promptly filed a lawsuit over the action and won a temporary stay in the government ban.
The fight against foreign students is increasingly playing a role in court: Last week, a California judge issued a nationwide injunction that prevented the Trump administration from ending the legal status of thousands of international students, while court cases challenged the termination.
S. Jack Hu, who was elected as the incoming UC Riverside principal on Wednesday, was born in China, said he did not see Rubio's announcement but believed the United States remained “the attraction of international talent.”
“Those of us who come to study or work are contributing to education and economic development and the country,” Hu said. Hu said he received a graduate visa from the University of Michigan in the 1980s to study engineering.
“If you look at a lot of new technology companies and startups in California, it’s that immigration has made a huge contribution to these new technologies and the country’s economy,” said Hu, the current senior vice president of academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia. He will start his new position on July 15.
