Houston lawmakers from both parties decry candidate’s call to ban international college students from China

Shelley Luther, a Republican candidate for a Dallas-area state House seat, is under fire from members of both parties after tweeting last week that Chinese students should be barred from attending Texas universities. Luther, a Dallas salon owner who rose to prominence for defying Gov. Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home order early in the pandemic, tweeted Wednesday, “Chinese students should be BANNED from attending all Texas universities. No more Communists!” She later deleted the tweet, but continued to defend the statement after state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, called it “ignorant” and “hateful” and said it would “incite violence against not only Chinese Americans, but all Asian Americans.”

“To casually conflate all Chinese students in America with actual registered members of the ruling party in the People’s Republic of China is not only ignorance of an extreme nature, it is also the type of rhetoric that drives anti-Asian hate crimes,” Wu said in a statement. “Luther’s racist statement not only paints a target on the backs of Chinese nationals studying in America, but it labels and targets anyone who looks or sounds vaguely Asian as a potential enemy.” Luther responded to Wu’s statement by calling him an “enemy of the people” and arguing that Texas Republicans agree with her view that “Communist Chinese citizens should not access taxpayer funded state institutions.” GOP officials largely ignored Luther’s remarks, though state Rep. Jacey Jetton, R-Richmond, responded by calling for Republicans to “stand against canceling Chinese students on college campuses.”