Donald Trump Administration To Revoke Visas Of Chinese Students, Confirms US Secretary Of State Marco Rubio

Washington DC: Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said the US will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, "including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields".

His announcement on X added to the uncertainty for America's international students, who have faced intensifying scrutiny from President Donald Trump's administration.

The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 28, 2025

New State Department guidance on visa applications is adding to the uncertainty for America's international students, who have faced intensifying scrutiny from President Donald Trump's administration.

In a cable sent Tuesday to US embassies and consulates, Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students as the department prepares guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media.

Existing appointments may be kept and will proceed under current review guidelines, the cable said.

The announcement came days after the Trump administration moved to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students, a decision that has been put on hold by a federal judge, pending a lawsuit.

Trump on Wednesday said that Harvard, whose current student population is made up of more than a quarter of international students, should limit that percentage to about 15 per cent.

"I want to make sure the foreign students are people that can love our country," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Earlier this year, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and tried to deport students who had been involved in campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

The Trump administration abruptly terminated the legal status of thousands of international students before reversing itself and then expanding the grounds on which students can lose permission to study in the US.