Some University of Maryland Chinese international and Chinese American students are expressing concerns about a federal inquiry that asks university president Darryll Pines to provide information on Chinese national students and faculty.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent Pines a letter on March 19 that requests the university provide details about Chinese national students and researchers at this university and the “security of sensitive technologies developed on campus.”

Multiple students and organizations at this university are urging this university not to comply with the letter, saying it would amplify xenophobia towards Chinese and Chinese-American students.

U.S. Rep. and committee chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) signed the letter, which states that the “unchecked enrollment” of Chinese nationals “risks facilitating the technological transfers that strengthen Beijing’s military and economic competitiveness at our nation’s expense.”

The letter, which was sent to the presidents of five other universities demands this university provide six pieces of information to the congressional committee, including tuition funding sources for Chinese national students and a list of labs and research initiatives where they work.

[UMD administration details response to federal inquiry about Chinese students, faculty]

According to university data, 1,047 international students from China were enrolled at this university in fall 2024, marking the lowest number since 2012, the earliest year data is publicly available.

Yuxiang Lai, a Chinese immigrant and Graduate Labor Union organizer, said he likely would not have been able to come to this university and contribute to research if the same rhetoric toward Chinese students was previously in place.

“[The letter] is just a symptom of the xenophobic policies and culture that many administrations, not just the [President Donald] Trump administration, [have] cultivated in the era of hostility against China,” the psychology graduate student said.

In a statement to The Diamondback, the university said it understands the committee’s letter may be “upsetting to some members of our community.”

“We will do our very best to be responsive to the Federal inquiry while upholding the [university’s] policies and procedures, as well as our commitment to first amendment rights and academic freedom,” Pines wrote in an email Sunday.

The university’s statement also urged students to reach out to the international student and scholar services office for assistance.

Lai said that the GLU wants this university to be more vocal and make a statement against the letter.

“What is important is that the students and faculty know that the administration is on their side, rather than quietly complying and not letting people be aware,” Lai said.

Multiple university organizations, including the GLU, have condemned the congressional letter and its requests.

The GLU circulated a petition that demanded this university not comply with the letter’s requests, citing that it escalates existing xenophobic federal policy.

The petition was paused Tuesday after university officials told organizers the letter was “legally binding,” according to the petition. According to Tuesday’s update to the petition, university officials told organizers they were not including personally identifiable information in their response.

[UMD community members demand university protects international students at office protest]

In a statement to The Diamondback, this university’s Asian American Student Union wrote that the Congressional letter is a “direct threat to the safety of our fellow peers.”

“The Trump administration’s continuous rhetoric on Chinese immigrants as threats to American security seeks to antagonize and dehumanize an entire group of people,” the statement read.

Nathalie Bonin, a GLU organizer, said members of the group believe students and workers deserve to have their privacy protected. This university has not mentioned how it will protect Chinese nationals’ privacy, the computer science doctoral student told The Diamondback on March 27.

“Pines should be a bit more firm about what [this university] will and will not do with regards to the letter,” Bonin said.

On the page with GLU’s petition, the organization said Chinese community members at this university should be notified about any information shared and receive a copy of the response provided.

Xu Jiang, a philosophy doctoral student from China, said since he does not study science or technology, he was not initially worried. But the situation is getting more serious, Jiang added.

“Given the Trump administration, it seems like it’s just impossible for [Pines] not to reply,” Jiang said.

Daniel Zheng, a Chinese-American student, said he was “shocked” about how prevalent xenophobia is after reading the committee’s letter. He said that while this issue is being framed against Chinese international students, it will also affect Chinese American students at this university.

“Every single time an issue based upon nationality is introduced, it just so happens to bleed into ethnicity,” the sophomore mechanical engineering major said.

Zheng said Trump’s administration has leaned into xenophobia against Chinese people during both of his terms, citing Trump’s rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic.Trump referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” in 2020, the Associated Press reported.

Zheng said his friends who were born and raised in the U.S. faced discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that he is concerned about how this letter could affect not only Chinese nationals, but also Chinese American or Asian American students.

“I’m afraid that rising Asian hate is going to affect all Asians,” Zheng said.

Data reporter Theodore Rose contributed to this report.