President Trump Shuts Down China Visa Pipeline

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump Administration is halting all student visas for international students until it improves “social media screening and vetting” of foreign applicants. Reportedly, China is upset about the visa crackdowns, calling into question U.S.-China relations and diplomacy.

Of course, one must ask if this edict crosses the line for free speech. However, the Trump Administration believes stronger vetting on social media will tamp down on radical students who can cause harm on our campuses. Many current students on visas are part of the pro-Hamas protests that have overtaken college campuses, calling for genocide and threatening Jewish students.

I’m fine with Secretary Rubio’s move: We should ensure that international students aren’t seeking to subvert the U.S. Constitution and American values. We must protect our college campuses.

My only concern is the arbiter of such decision-making. Right now, a conservative Administration is trying to improve national security, but what happens when a far-Left White House employs a similar tactic? Conservative talking points could potentially become hate speech – we must be careful with these types of measures.

We saw this unlawful censorship firsthand during the previous Administration’s alliance with Big Tech to stifle conservatives on social media. The ACLJ has filed numerous lawsuits to fight back against this suppression of free speech.

ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell reacted to the State Department’s halting all student visas:

I have run the visa line for the embassy in Berlin and for consulates in Frankfurt and Munich. . . . There’s a vetting process. We look at people’s social media. If you are on social media complaining about the U.S. government’s policies before you get a visa, you’re going to be denied a visa. . . . And so the strict policy of whether you are coming to be a tourist and be a student and learn, or are you coming to actually foment political violence or problems is a very real thing. And by the way, there are hundreds of thousands of people waiting in line who want to come here on a student visa. We get to pick and choose because our universities are great. And people want to come here. And so we should take only the cream of the crop. We don’t need to take the troublemakers. And this is what other countries do. You couldn’t go and get a visa to live in Germany if you were critiquing the government of Germany and calling for violence against the German government.

As I mentioned earlier, China is upset about the news. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that China “upholds that normal education cooperation and academic exchanges should not be disrupted. . . . We urge the U.S. to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all international students, including Chinese students overseas.”

The State Department reports that over 275,000 Chinese students came to America on student visas in 2024. To put that in perspective, a total of 400,000 foreign visas were issued – so China accounted for more than half. Clearly, China has a vested interest in American colleges and institutions.

And the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has found ways to infiltrate our education system – we must be on guard. If the CCP is complaining about human rights being violated, maybe it’s a good sign that America is actually doing the right thing.

Additionally, ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil joined our broadcast to provide an update on our work to defend persecuted Christians. We’ve been sounding the alarm on the recent slaughter of Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Through the ACLJ’s international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), we have been urging the U.N. Human Rights Council to take action to protect the Christians in the Congo and bring justice to the murderers. Earlier this week, we submitted additional written submissions to the U.N. on behalf of the believers in the DRC.

We also advocated to the U.N. on behalf of Christians in Pakistan and India. In conjunction, we are also working with Congress and the Trump Administration to secure more help for persecuted Christians.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the Trump Administration’s decision to halt foreign student visas.

Watch the full broadcast below: