President Donald Trump’s remark last month about bringing 600,000 Chinese students to U.S. colleges and universities reignited a debate over international students, national security and immigration policy, an opinion writer said in the New York Post.
In an op-ed published Sunday, Daniel Di Martino, a Manhattan Institute fellow and doctoral candidate in economics at Columbia University, argued that the United States benefits from admitting more of the world’s most talented students — including those from China — while adopting stronger screening and pathways to stay and work after graduation.
Di Martino acknowledged the backlash among some of Trump’s supporters after the president mentioned the 600,000 figure, with critics warning of espionage and tightened competition for college seats. The White House later characterized the 600,000 number as “two years’ worth of visas,” a clarification the op-ed said was not strictly accurate.
The op-ed cites figures indicating there are about 277,000 Chinese students currently in the United States, compared with roughly 331,000 from India. Fewer than 90,000 of the Chinese students are undergraduates, the piece said, and many hold extended student visas that allow post-graduation work. Di Martino wrote that international undergraduates make up a small share of the U.S. undergraduate population — about 342,000 of nearly 16 million students in fall 2023, or roughly 2 percent.
The piece also stresses the fiscal and economic role of international students, saying 844,000 international students who came to the United States in 2023 were largely enrolled in graduate programs and paid full tuition. Those dollars, the op-ed argues, subsidize scholarships and financial aid for American undergraduates, keep programs and some campuses economically viable, and support local businesses that rely on student populations.
Di Martino wrote that his forthcoming Manhattan Institute paper finds the average international student who completes a graduate degree in the United States would reduce the national debt by millions of dollars over 30 years. He pointed to examples of foreign-born graduates who became physicians and entrepreneurs — citing Elon Musk as a high-profile former international student — as evidence of potential long-term benefits.
At the same time, the op-ed called for beefed-up vetting. Di Martino endorsed Trump administration plans for expanded social-media screening of student-visa applicants to help exclude individuals he described as extremists or agents of authoritarian parties. He urged the State Department to question applicants from authoritarian countries about their support for such regimes, and he recounted encounters with students he described as agitators at Columbia University.
To retain talent, the op-ed recommended immigration changes including exempting holders of advanced STEM degrees from green-card caps and streamlining work visas for graduates. Di Martino framed those proposals as part of a geopolitical strategy: each skilled person who studies and stays in the United States, he wrote, represents a “brain drain” from rival regimes and a gain for the U.S. economy and national security.
Advocates and critics have long clashed over the balance between opening U.S. campuses and protecting sensitive research and national security. Republican and Democratic administrations have pursued different mixes of recruitment, visa policy and export controls related to foreign students and researchers. Proponents of tighter controls point to espionage and intellectual-property risks; proponents of broader admission and retention emphasize economic benefits, demographic pressures on college enrollments and soft-power gains.
University administrators, state officials and researchers have previously told Congress and reporters that international tuition revenue can be essential for programs at public universities and that demographic declines among U.S. high-school graduates increase colleges’ reliance on foreign students. Security officials, meanwhile, have documented instances of foreign influence and intellectual-property theft tied to academic collaborations.
The op-ed’s policy prescriptions echo proposals debated on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies: expanded vetting and social-media checks, targeted visa limits for certain countries, and changes to the employment-based immigration system to prioritize high-skilled graduates. Those proposals face legal, logistical and political hurdles, and any changes would require coordination among the White House, State Department, Homeland Security and Congress.
Di Martino’s piece frames the issue as both an economic and geopolitical contest, urging a policy that combines recruiting talent with screening for loyalty and intent. The New York Post published the op-ed on Sunday under the headline calling for open university doors to more Chinese students “if they love America.”