In the apparent race toward making xenophobia official U.S. policy, a small group of Republican lawmakers is cheering a bill that would bar Chinese international students from the U.S.

Congressman Riley M. Moore of West Virginia, who in a press release calls his bill “groundbreaking,” promises the proposal would stop the issuance of student visas to Chinese nationals. The bill’s name is juvenile sounding – “The Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act” and its primary intent, we believe, is plainly xenophobic.

“Every year we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” says Moore.

The effort is likely to fail, despite that five House lawmakers have joined Rep. Moore in the effort. But, then again, Congress has proved morally compromised on other issues – especially in its failure to reign in both Pres. Donald Trump and Joe Biden before him on stopping the funding of what many believe to be a genocide in Gaza. And with Congress currently allowing itself to act as an extension of the Executive branch, this bill should be taken seriously.

We are at a loss for words, however, on this bill. What can we say, “Bring back the America of 1882 again?” “Stop academic progress in its tracks?” “Make America fall behind again?”

What we can say is the world is a big place and these 300,000 students have other options. They might just decide they don’t want to study here, and they don’t want some guy from West Virginia deciding that they are all potential “spies.” The loser then? U.S. universities, colleges, companies and communities.

The headline to this editorial was edited to reflect an earlier version.