Several Chinese students slammed legislation that was introduced last week by Republican lawmakers that seeks to keep them out of American schools.
The bill, the Stop CCP VISAs Act, would halt the issuance of student visas to Chinese nationals looking to study at U.S. universities or take part in exchange programs.
The bill cites national security concerns, saying that those on student visas have in the past attempted to spy for the Chinese Communist Party. But the Chinese nationals who spoke to NBC News said that they came to the U.S. looking for more academic freedom, calling the legislation “the new Chinese Exclusion Act.”
“I think it’s just blatant racism and xenophobia,” said one Chinese student who recently graduated from a D.C.-area university and requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “We are not spies. We are students who want to get a better education.”
Rep. Riley Moore, R.W.Va., who introduced the bill, doubled down on the legislation amid criticisms from students and advocacy groups.
“I will never apologize for defending America’s vital national interests against our greatest geopolitical foe,” he said in an email to NBC News.
With the widespread backlash, it’s unlikely the bill will pass. However, students say it’s added to their concerns around safety in the U.S.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that the U.S. has long “suppressed and persecuted” Chinese students in the U.S. who have legal and valid documents and visas and that China “firmly opposes” such practices.
“The hope of China-U.S. relations lies in the people, its foundation is in people-to-people exchanges, and its future in the youth.”
Five House Republicans are co-sponsoring the bill, and Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., is set to introduce companion legislation in the Senate. In one case cited by Moore, five Chinese students at the University of Michigan were confronted near a military site during a late-night visit in 2023. It wasn’t revealed to be a national security issue, and they were charged with lying to investigators about the trip and conspiring to delete photos from their cellphones.
A Princeton University Ph.D. student, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said he was shocked by the “extreme” nature of the bill, saying it painted Chinese students with a broad brush.
“I graduated from a top college in China so I did have access to a lot of great resources in research, but because of the censorship, there were so many topics you couldn’t study,” he said.
He said that while the university environment has been inclusive and inviting, he’s felt a slight shift under the new Trump administration, with schools a bit more reluctant to speak out for their international students. And this new bill certainly isn’t helping, he said, adding that if he begins to feel unsafe, he would consider moving.
“I’ve met so many talented Chinese students, and they’re contributing to the U.S. through the economy, their technology, much more than I think they realize,” he said. “It will be such a shame to drive them away.”
Michael Hotchkiss, Princeton’s assistant vice president of communications, said that the school’s Davis International Center helps provide guidance and information for its international students, each working with an adviser.
“Princeton supports and advocates for its international students,” Hotchkiss said in a statement.
A Yale Law school student, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said the bill itself perpetuates a harmful, unfair image of Chinese students as spies. For him, it was the legal environment in the U.S. that attracted him to schools in the country in the first place.
“I studied law in China before, and I felt like the Chinese legal system and the rule of law is, in many aspects, still very compromised,” he said.
So far the bill has received extensive backlash from Asian American organizations, including the Asian American Scholar Forum, who said that many international scholars come from countries with political turmoil, limited rights or constrained opportunities. The legislation would harm the talent pipeline of scholars, the organization said, and in turn hurt U.S. leadership in science and innovation.
“We cannot afford to cut off this pipeline of talent and exclude such an integral part of our American community,” said Gisela Kusakawa, the group’s executive director. “To do so would be to turn our backs on the very ideals that have made America a global leader in innovation and discovery.”
