U.S. to begin revoking visas for Chinese students
The U.S. will begin revoking visas for Chinese students, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday.
The big picture: The move marks a major escalation in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, and comes a day after Rubio directed a halt to student visa interviews.
Driving the news: Rubio made the announcement on X Wednesday, saying the revocation of visas of Chinese students includes for those "with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."
It was not immediately clear whether the directive will impact all students from China.
Representatives for the Chinese Embassy, the White House, Department of Homeland Security and the State Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Wednesday evening.
Zoom out: The Trump administration has targeted universities and students, policing foreign nationals' conduct and speech.
As part of its pressure campaign against Harvard, the administration tried to pull the school's ability to enroll international students last week. A judge temporarily barred the move after Harvard sued the administration over the action.
Rubio also sought to launch an AI -fueled "Catch and Revoke" effort to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups.
Flashback: Rubio has been a China hawk for years. In 2018 as a U.S. senator, he launched the successful effort to ban the China-funded Confucius Institutes from college campuses in his home state of Florida.
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