Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians at the Gate


Emergency Pod: The Trump Administration restricts Harvard International Enrollment as State Department Reviews Chinese Student Visas

June 02, 2025

In this special episode, we examine the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on higher education in America and their implications for the future of US-China academic exchanges. On May 29, the Department of Homeland Security banned Harvard from enrolling international students—a decision that is now being challenged in the courts even as the educational plans of nearly 7,000 students and post-grads are thrown into jeopardy.


This announcement comes on the heels of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcement last Wednesday that the State Department will start "aggressively" revoking the visas of Chinese students, starting with those with connections to the ruling Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.


David and Jeremiah convene an emergency meeting of the podcast to unpack these developments and how these announcements will affect the future of US-China educational exchanges, America's global influence in higher education, and economic competitiveness.


Spoiler alert: They're both quite salty about the subject.