US tightens scrutiny of foreign students under new State Department rules, part of Trump’s wider move to curb international enrolment in higher education.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the US will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Communist Party or enrolled in sensitive fields.
“The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
China remains at the centre of former President Trump’s global trade war, which has unsettled financial markets, disrupted supply chains, and heightened the risk of a severe global economic slowdown.
The number of Chinese international students in the U.S. has declined to approximately 277,000 in 2024, down from a peak of around 370,000 in 2019, a drop attributed in part to rising tensions between the two largest economies and increased US government scrutiny of certain Chinese students.
New guidance from the US State Department is increasing scrutiny of international students, part of President Donald Trump’s broader push to tighten control over foreign enrolments in higher education.
In a cable issued Tuesday, Rubio ordered US embassies and consulates to suspend new visa interviews for international students until the department finalises new rules requiring more thorough vetting of applicants’ social media activity.
Existing appointments to proceed under current guidelines
Existing appointments will be honoured and proceed under current review guidelines, according to the State Department cable.
The announcement follows the Trump administration’s recent move to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students, a decision currently on hold after a federal judge intervened, pending a lawsuit.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said Harvard, where international students make up more than a quarter of the student body, should reduce that number. “I want to make sure the foreign students are people who can love our country,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Earlier this year, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and sought to deport international students who had participated in campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The Trump administration had also abruptly revoked the legal status of thousands of international students before later reversing the decision, and has since expanded the criteria under which students can lose their permission to study in the US.
