Rubio announces intent to 'aggressively' pull Chinese student visas

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the federal government is working to cancel visas for Chinese students. 

Rubio said in a brief Wednesday press release that the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will work together to “aggressively” revoke visas for students from China.

Visa cancellations will also include students with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or “studying in critical fields.”

[RELATED: Universities failed to disclose Chinese donations and spent millions on DEI, Open The Books reports]

“We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” said Rubio.  

China is the second-largest source of international students for the United States—with India being the first, as noted by NBC News. During the 2023-2024 academic year, there were roughly 277,000 Chinese students studying in American universities. 

The move comes as information continues to surface revealing ties between American universities and the CCP, raising concerns about foreign interference. 

Harvard University, currently locked in an ongoing struggle with the Trump administration, accepted over $1.4 billion in funding from China over the past decade, according to an audit conducted by Campus Reform. 

[RELATED: CCP official praises New Jersey university president for ‘warm hospitality’]

Almost simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Education has launched investigations into several universities relating to foreign donation matters. 

The University of California, Berkeley, for example, reportedly received millions of dollars in funding from CCP-linked sources. Another investigation was launched into the University of Pennsylvania earlier this month for alleged foreign funding disclosure failures. 

Campus Reform reached out to Secretary Rubio’s office for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.