Washington, D.C. — A top White House aide said on Thursday that the Trump administration is preparing a policy shift that could make it significantly harder for international students to obtain visas, citing concerns over national security and the need to prioritize what he called “American genius.”
Stephen Miller, a senior adviser known for his hardline views on immigration, said the State Department is currently working on a new framework for issuing student visas, especially to applicants who may pose a “risk of being engaged in any form of malign conduct in the United States.”
“The State Department is putting that in place right now,” Miller said during a briefing. “But as a general matter, the policy is going to be that we’re not going to be awarding visas to individuals who have a risk of being engaged in espionage, theft of trade secrets, theft of technology, or other actions that would degrade the security of our industrial base.”
While Miller did not specify which countries or applicants might be affected, his remarks come amid mounting tensions with China and heightened scrutiny of foreign nationals working or studying in sensitive fields such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and quantum computing.
In a broader appeal to populist concerns, Miller framed the proposed changes as part of a philosophical shift in how the U.S. values domestic talent. “There’s a deeper issue here too,” he said, invoking the views of Senator J.D. Vance, a prominent conservative voice. “We don’t do enough in this country to reward and celebrate American genius.”
Miller criticized what he described as an open-door approach to global competition, suggesting that American citizens face unfair disadvantages in the job market, housing sector, and access to public benefits. “We cannot have a policy in America where every citizen of this country… has to compete with all of planet Earth,” he said. “Because then you’re not a nation anymore. At that point, you’re just a world economy.”
