Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the US plans to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students, including those working in critical fields or with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Experts warn the move—along with the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on international students—could drain American scientific labs of top STEM talent and upend cutting-edge research in areas like artificial intelligence. Rubio’s announcement came the day after the State Department sent a cable to US embassies ordering them to temporarily suspend scheduling interviews for all prospective international students, regardless of their country of origin. The State Department declined to answer questions from WIRED about changes to its student visa policies. “The rest of the world has for a long time envied the US for being able to attract the world's best students,” Conitzer says.