A proposed bill to ban Chinese nationals from obtaining student visas is drawing sharp criticism from civil rights advocates, who warn it would promote racial profiling and harm U.S. higher education.

John C. Yang, president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, denounced the bill, saying it unfairly targets Chinese students and could weaken America’s standing in global innovation.

“We strongly reject this move to paint all Chinese students as a threat and caution against racial profiling based on geography and not fact,” Yang said in a statement. “Isolationism does not work and makes America weaker, not stronger.”

Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, argued that Chinese students often choose to study in the U.S. precisely because they are drawn to its democratic values and academic excellence.

“Unilaterally cutting off pathways of study for Chinese students… will make our country less innovative and the world less safe,” Chu said.

The legislation, known as the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act (Stop CCP VISAs Act), is being introduced by Rep. Riley Moore, of West Virginia.

Moore and other Republican backers argue that the bill is necessary to prevent espionage and intellectual property theft by the Chinese Communist Party. Moore cited a recent case in which five Chinese students at the University of Michigan were charged with covering up a visit to a U.S. military site during training exercises.

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