On the same day that a federal judge deemed Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil on alleged “foreign policy” grounds likely unconstitutional, Rubio announced in a gnomic statement that the Trump administration will “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students, including those with “ties to the Chinese Communist Party” or who are studying in “critical fields.”

Little more detail was given. But it’s clear that Rubio is weaponizing his legal purview, under the guise of foreign policy, not just to crush dissent and target international students — but also to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of decimating U.S. higher education and producing an even more unequal United States.

Unlike some of the Trump administration’s other malicious attacks on international students, Rubio can do this. While federal judges have issued and extended injunctions in cases related to students’ immigration statuses or enrollment, they have far less capacity to intervene here. Student visas, which are entry documents to the U.S. and separate from a student’s immigration status, are under the remit of the State Department and outside the jurisdiction of domestic courts. Earlier this week, Rubio also ordered a halt to all new interview appointments for international students applying for student visas.

Four-year college degrees have never been a great equalizer, but their destruction helps ensure the right-wing fantasy of an uneducated underclass.

In terms of economic self interest, our trade-deficit-obsessed president is shooting himself in the foot by dismantling a major U.S. export: our world-class higher education........

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