Revoking visas of Chinese students 'aggressive' power play in no one's interest

Amid the uproar of Donald Trump's crackdown on international students in the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the US will "aggressively revoke" the visas of Chinese students studying in the country.

Following his announcement, the US State Department published a statement titled "New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China", saying it will work with the Department of Homeland Security "to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields".

Yet given that the US Court of International Trade ruled on Wednesday that Trump had overstepped his authority over tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Rubio might be overly presumptive in assuming he has the authority to give an order to revoke the visas of international students from a particular country. Federal immigration law requires individualized assessments for visa revocations. As such, mass actions targeting a specific group could face legal challenges for exceeding statutory limits or violating due process.