A prominent Republican senator is calling for a ban on immigrants from China, Iran, and North Korea from entering the United States to study at American colleges and universities, arguing that they return home with the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor of Alabama, claims that “40 to 70 percent” of all students enrolled in colleges and universities in the Northeast are “foreign nationals.” That would mean four to seven out of every ten students on average in all schools in the Northeast.

“It’s getting out of control, and what’s happening, they, you know, they don’t have to pay taxes,” Tuberville told Fox News on Thursday (video below).

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“You know, they’re non-profit,” he said, presumably about the educational institutions.

“And so we have to do something about this. We got to wake up and smell the roses here because we are funding the end of our country because all these Chinese come over,” the Alabama Republican complained. “Now, they’ll leave their visas on time and they’ll go back home, but they take everything they possibly can with them, in terms of, in terms of anything that they learn.”

The Fox News graphics cited the Open Doors 2024 report on International Education Exchange, which is sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Among states in the Northeast, which Tuberville cited, Massachusetts has one of the highest concentrations of colleges and universities. The Open Doors report for Massachusetts shows international students spend $3.9 billion in the Bay State.

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Gil Guerra, an Immigration Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center, remarked, “Sen. Tuberville’s bill would ban students from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, & Venezuela from studying in the U.S. But admitting students from these nations benefits us by draining enemies of talent and giving dissidents a lifeline to escape these oppressive regimes.”

Charles W.L. Hill, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, noted, “When foreign students come to the US and pay for educational services that is counted as export revenue. The US exports around $50 billion in educational services a year in this manner, which exceeds steel and auto exports combined. So if you are a mercantilist like Trump, and his sidekick, Tuberville, you should be encouraging this.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Tuberville on Chinese college students who study in the US: “This is ridiculous … they leave their visa on time and they’ll go back home, but they take everything they possibly can with them in terms of anything that they learn.” 🥴 pic.twitter.com/XWI2A4xeqI

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 31, 2025

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After weeks of relentless coverage of the Epstein files crisis, President Donald Trump has seemed eager to change the subject—but when the opportunity arose, he couldn’t resist seizing on the scandal once again.

During a press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked the President about a Fox News report that the FBI had found “Russiagate” documents in “burn bags.” The President, who at first said he did not know what she was talking about, then told the reporter to “speak up,” before launching into a conspiracy theory rant about the Epstein files.

“I don’t know that. I don’t know what you mean by that statement,” Trump told the reporter.

“Bags full of Russiagate documents,” the reporter repeated.

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“Oh, burn bags—I thought you said, ‘appointed a man named Burnbag.'”

“Well,” Trump went on after confirming the reporter had said “burn bags,” “I want it to be shown, you know, as long as it’s fair and reasonable, I think it will be shown, and it should be shown. And I think he feels that way, and I think Pam [Bondi] feels that way.”

“But it’s got to be, you know, it’s be stuff that really doesn’t hurt people unfairly, ’cause you have so many people involved, and if they can do that in a fair way, I think it’s great. I think it’s really great.

“It’s—the whole thing is a scam,” Trump continued. “It’s a scam set up by the Democrats, and they love talking about it, but, I would like to see people exposed that might be bad, and we’ll see how that all works out, but it’s getting to be very old news.”

“You know, if they had anything, they would have done it the week before the election, because they were losing by a lot, if they had anything, they would have done it. They controlled the file,” he claimed.

“The Democrats controlled it—Comey and all this, you know, sleazebags, every one of them that you read about all the time, and I guess they’ve got some problems now, having to do with yet a different scandal, very big one. But they controlled that file, so I would think that if they would have had something in the file, they would have released it about a week before the election, maybe two weeks.”

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It’s unclear why Trump would both say that the Epstein files are a “scam,” and that he wants it all to be shown.

This is not the first time in recent weeks that Trump has delivered an odd answer to a question.

Earlier this month, as The New Republic reported, “Trump took off on a winding rant about his summer vacation plans … when asked a crucial question about ‘Alligator Alcatraz.'”

TNR reported that the President was “clearly confused.”

The reporter had asked her question—how long will detainees spend in “Alligator Alcatraz”—and repeated it for Trump, but he replied, “I’m gonna spend a lot of—this is my home state. I love it. I love your government. I love all the people around—these are all friends of mine. They know me very well. I mean I’m not surprised that they do so well. They’re great people.”

Three weeks ago in Texas, asked about the early warning system failures and massive loss of life, Trump replied, “Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are but only an evil person would ask a question like that.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

asked a question about Russiagate that he struggles to hear, a confused Trump starts ranting about the Epstein files pic.twitter.com/45zv1Bq35H

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 30, 2025

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Image via Reuters 

Texas Republicans have just unveiled new Trump-ordered congressional maps that eliminate five Democratic-held seats—deliberately shifting them to the GOP in a bid to lock down control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Critics are calling it illegal voter suppression and vowing to retaliate by redrawing maps in blue states.

Texas has 38 congressional seats. Twenty-five are currently held by Republicans. The new maps, if they go into effect, are expected to hand Republicans 30 seats.

Democrats are preparing to fight back, and House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly is heading to Austin on Wednesday night.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) responded to the newly unveiled maps, declaring that merging two districts is “illegal voter suppression of Black and Latino Central Texans.”

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“By merging our Central Texas districts, Trump wants to commit yet another crime— this time, against Texas voters and against The Voting Rights Act,” Casar charged. “If Trump is allowed to rip the Voting Rights Act to shreds here in Central Texas, his ploy will spread like wildfire across the country. Everyone who cares about our democracy must mobilize against this illegal map.”

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) issued a threat: “Hope it’s worth it! Say goodbye to [House Republican] Kevin Kiley and 5 other CA Republicans.”

“This is an attempt to steal the US House,” warned former Democratic spokesperson and strategist Jeb Fain. “The GOP knows they’re likely to lose the House next year, so they’re going to try to steal the election,” he added.

Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez declared, “Trump is ordering Texas Republicans to rig the maps in a desperate power grab so he doesn’t have to answer for his failed policies. This special session should be about flood relief for Texans. Not partisan b——-.”

Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones calls the Republicans’ new map “a racial and political bloodbath.”

“Pitted Democrats of color against each other,” she wrote. “Gave Trump more than he asked for,” and concluded: “This isn’t redistricting. It’s retribution.”

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) slammed Texas Republicans who, she wrote, “just rolled out their proposed Congressional map that cut 5 Democratic seats out of thin air. Let’s be clear: these maps are not about representation, it’s a power grab to silence voters and suppress votes. They know their policies are unpopular, and they are afraid of losing. So what do they try to do? Cheat. If your big idea is ‘cheat harder,’ maybe it’s time to rethink your politics.”

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Veteran journalist Lydia Polgreen warned, “SCOTUS has basically said this is a-ok so Democrats are suicidal if they do not fight fire with fire.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office wrote: “Texas just released a map so rigged it might as well have been drawn at Mar-a-Lago. California won’t be sitting on the sidelines.”

Congressman Casar is calling the move a “five alarm fire for democracy,” and charges that Trump has no plan to win the midterm elections, rather, he has “a plan for rigging the rules.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Congressman @GregCasar is right, Trump is trying to rig the midterms.

There will be no fair midterm elections if Trump and Abbott get their way. #txlege pic.twitter.com/TFm9WLaTxa

— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) July 30, 2025

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Image via Reuters