The State Department announced this week it is resuming the processing of student visa applications after a three-week pause meant to crack down on two ongoing higher ed. problems: radical antisemite protesters who threatening Jewish students, and trained foreign adversaries who are using college and university campuses for espionage.
Secretary of State Marcio Rubio announced May 28 that visas granted to Chinese students will be revoked if the students have ties to the Chinese Communist or they are involved in fields of study that could exploited by the CCP.
Rubio’s reversal on Chinese students is likely tied to U.S.-China trade negotiations. President Trump stated on social media last week the issue of Chinese students was discussed during those high-stakes negotiations, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Of 1.1 million foreign students enrolled at a U.S. college or university, approximately 277,000 are Chinese nationals, according to the Times.
Ira Mehlman is media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR. He says the State Department's new requirement for a visa application – access to the student’s social media – is a good requirement moving forward.
“This is a good way to kind of walk the line between allowing people, who legitimately want to come and pursue their educations in the United States,” he observes, “and also ensuring they are legitimate students and protecting the interests of other American students."
Asked if he believes the social media requirement is enough to weed out troublesome students, Mehlman says it’s doubtful it will catch Chinese students who are trained for espionage.
“They have to present themselves at a U.S. embassy, or consulate, and go through a background check,” he explains. “So clearly China has been engaging in espionage through students placed in the United States."
In a timely announcement, the FBI recently announced the arrest of two Chinese nationals at the University of Michigan. The post-doctorate students are accused of smuggling a crop-destroying fungus, Fusarium graminearum, from China to a research lab at the U of M.
The FBI obtained a signed document from China's Zhejiang University in which one of the post-grad students, Yunqing Jian, pledged loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.
