President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to ramp up deportations and revoke student visas as part of wide-ranging efforts to fulfill its hardline immigration agenda.

In a statement, Rubio said the department will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from China and Hong Kong.

“The US state department will work with the department of homeland security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” he said.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China is also at the epicentre of Trump’s global trade war that has roiled financial markets, upended supply chains and fuelled risks of a sharp worldwide economic downturn.

The number of Chinese international students in the US has dropped to about 277,000 in 2024 from a high of around 370,000 in 2019, driven partly by growing tension between the world’s two biggest economies and heightened US government scrutiny of some Chinese students.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported the US department of state had halted new appointments for all foreign student and exchange visitor visa applicants, according to an internal cable.

The Trump administration has expanded social media vetting of foreign students and is seeking to ramp up deportations and revoke student visas as part of its wide-ranging efforts to fulfill his hardline immigration agenda.