US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed America’s embassies and consulates worldwide to stop scheduling student visa interviews as US President Donald Trump’s administration considers more expansive vetting of the social media profiles of applicants.
The order, laid out in a diplomatic cable on Tuesday, is the latest effort by the administration to restrict international students’ entry to the US over claims that they might promote antisemitism or otherwise threaten national security.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued ... in the coming days,” some media outlets have cited the cable as stating.
According to the cable, details of which were first reported by Politico, previously scheduled interviews can proceed.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce did not confirm details from the cable during a Tuesday briefing with reporters. When asked if students should expect delays in their visa processing, she said: “We take very seriously the process of vetting who it is that comes into the country, and we’re going to continue to do that”.
In a statement to the Post after the briefing, the State Department said: “As a general matter, we don’t comment on the authenticity or veracity of allegedly leaked cables”.
Rubio had signalled more restrictions on visa applicants and holders just last week.
“A visa is not a right, it’s a privilege,” Rubio said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on May 20, noting that the State Department was going to “continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education”.
“If you tell me that you’re coming to the United States to lead campus crusades, to take over libraries and try to burn down buildings ... we will deny you a visa,” he said.
Tuesday’s development comes days after the Department of Homeland Security sought to block Harvard University from enrolling foreign students due to what it described as noncompliance with its request to provide records of their activities on campus.
The move was halted by a federal judge on Friday after Harvard sued the administration.
The administration is also moving to cancel the federal government’s remaining contracts with Harvard, which total about US$100 million, and Trump on Monday posted on Truth Social that he was considering diverting billions in grant dollars away from the university towards trade schools.
In her letter to Harvard announcing DHS’s restrictions last Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she wanted to send a “clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students”.
Earlier in the year, the State Department had imposed social media screening requirements for some visa applicants. Tuesday’s directive appears to be more far-reaching.
It is not yet clear whether applicants from certain countries may face additional scrutiny.
Last week, Noem cited Harvard’s “coordinated activity” with the Chinese Communist Party as a reason for DHS’s crackdown on the school.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, many international students – including those from China – have reported self-censoring on campus and taking other steps to avoid the administration’s scrutiny.
The US hosts more than a million international students, and in the 2023-2024 school year, over 270,000 of them were Chinese, according to the Institute of International Education. - South China Morning Post
