Latest news with #StopCCPVisasAct
New York Post
29-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump administration to ‘aggressively revoke' visas for some Chinese students
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the Trump administration will 'aggressively revoke' visas for a segment of Chinese students. Chinese foreign nationals studying 'critical fields' or with ties to the Chinese Communist Party will be among the students targeted for removal, the top US diplomat said. 'Under President Trump's leadership, the US State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,' Rubio said in a statement. Advertisement 'We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong,' he added. 3 Rubio said the Trump administration will target Chinese students with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying 'critical fields.' Mehmet Eser/ZUMA / The secretary did not disclose which areas of study would constitute 'critical fields.' Advertisement The State Department did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. The US grants nearly 300,000 student visas to Chinese nationals every year, according to Rep. Riley Moore ( who introduced legislation to halt the practice earlier this year. 'The CCP poses an existential threat to the US,' Moore wrote on X following Rubio's announcement. 'We should not be letting 300,000 Chinese nationals into our research institutions every year. 'This is a huge move from the Trump Admin, and now Congress must codify the president's agenda by passing my Stop CCP Visas Act.' Advertisement The congressman noted that Beijing's 2017 National Intelligence Law requires any Chinese organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work – both at home and abroad. 'We've literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,' Moore said when he unveiled his bill in March. 'Just last year, the FBI charged five Chinese nationals here on student visas after they were caught photographing joint US-Taiwan live fire military exercises. 'This cannot continue.' 3 Rubio has already revoked thousands of foreign student visas. X/@SecRubio Advertisement The Trump administration's crackdown on Chinese student visa holders comes one day after Rubio ordered US embassies and consulates to pause any student visa applicant interviews, according to an internal cable obtained by Politico. 'Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor … visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued [separate telegram], which we anticipate in the coming days,' the cable read. Rubio has already revoked at least 4,000 visas from foreign nationals charged with criminal offenses – including arson, wildlife and human trafficking, child endangerment, domestic abuse, DUI and robbery, a senior State Department official told The Post last month. The secretary of state has also targeted students involved in anti-Israel campus protests, such as Columbia University grad Mahmoud Khalil. 3 Trump proposed limiting Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students earlier on Wednesday. AP Last week, an effort by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to specifically target 7,000 Harvard University students for visa revocations was blocked by a federal court. Oakland, Calif. US District Judge Jeffrey S. White implemented a nationwide injunction barring the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of any international students or allowing immigration authorities to arrest or detain them. Trump on Wednesday floated capping Harvard University's foreign enrollment at 15% of its student body. The administration last month froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the elite university and last week paused its ability to enroll international students — after college leaders rebuffed administration demands to curtail antisemitic incidents and provide lists of foreign students for federal review.
Al Jazeera
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Beijing slams request by US lawmaker for information on Chinese students
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has protested a request from a US congressional panel this week for six universities in the United States to provide detailed information about Chinese students enrolled in advanced science and technology programmes. The letters were sent on Thursday by John Moolenaar, the chair of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, who alleged that Beijing was embedding its students in top research programmes to gain access to sensitive technology. In response, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning urged the US to 'stop overstretching the concept of national security' and to 'protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students' in the country. Mao told reporters that Chinese students make up about 25 percent of all foreign students in the US and contribute to its 'economic prosperity and technological development'. In recent years, US universities have widely welcomed Chinese students as a key funding source, as they often pay full international tuition. However, the growing number of Chinese students has alarmed lawmakers like Moolenaar, who accused university administrators of jeopardising US research in exchange for higher tuition revenue. 'Trojan Horse' Moolenaar stated in his letter that the student visa system had become a 'Trojan Horse' for Beijing, 'providing unrestricted access to our top research institutions and posing a direct threat to our national security'. 'The Chinese Communist Party has established a well-documented, systematic pipeline to embed researchers in leading US institutions, providing them direct exposure to sensitive technologies with dual-use military applications,' Moolenaar's letter said. Letters were sent to Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Stanford University, the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland, and the University of Southern California. They included requests for information on funding sources and the type of research carried out by Chinese students. The requests also sought 'a country-by-country breakdown of applicants, admittances, and enrolments' at the universities. Student visas The letters follow a move earlier this week by Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia to stop Chinese citizens from receiving visas to study in the US or attend exchange programmes. Moore introduced a bill known as the 'Stop CCP Visas Act' to Congress, though it is not expected to pass due to widespread opposition. Critics argue that the bill is reminiscent of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which restricted Chinese immigration to the US from 1882 to 1943.
