The State Department is temporarily halting interviews abroad with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas as it expands scrutiny of applicants’ social media posts.
The order was issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a cable dated Tuesday that went out to U.S. embassies and consulates. A State Department official confirmed on Tuesday that Mr. Rubio had given the order to pause new interview appointments until further guidance.
In a statement, the State Department suggested the pause was a part of the ordinarily “dynamic” scheduling of interviews for such visas. The department said it bases visa timelines on what the officers need for sufficient vetting, in compliance with U.S. law and “to ensure applicants do not pose a security or safety risk to the United States.”
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting,” the statement said, without specifying what could flag an applicant for rejection under a new social media policy. The statement noted that visa applicants have been asked to provide social media account information on forms since 2019.
Mr. Rubio issued a cable on March 25 that told consular officers to scrutinize the social media content of some applicants for student and other types of visas. That directive said that officers need to refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the “fraud prevention unit” for a “mandatory social media check.”
The secretary of state’s new order on Tuesday comes as President Trump is trying to coerce Harvard University and other institutions to restrict what can be said on campuses, with a particular focus on anti-Israel speech.
Mr. Trump this month said the U.S. government would no longer grant Harvard the right to enroll international students. On Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking Mr. Trump from moving forward with the action against Harvard and foreign students.
Many universities in the United States rely on foreign students to pay full tuition. Those students are responsible for a substantial portion of the annual revenues of many American universities. On some campuses, foreign students make up the majority of researchers in certain disciplines, mainly in the sciences.
Foreign students collectively pursued more than 1.3 million degrees in higher education in 2023, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security. Visiting professors from abroad will also be affected by the new restrictions.
Foreign citizens with existing interview appointments for student or exchange visas should in theory still be able to attend those.
In recent months, Mr. Rubio has spoken about canceling student visas, revoking permanent residency status, called green cards, and scrutinizing the previous social media posts of foreign visitors mainly in the context of outrage around Israel’s war in Gaza. He has said pro-Palestinian protesters on campuses have harassed other students, destroyed property and disrupted daily life, even though those acts have not been widespread across university protests.
Critics say the Trump administration is trying to suppress free speech and promote ideological conformity.
Mr. Rubio told reporters in late March that he had revoked 300 or more visas, many of which were issued to students, and was continuing to cancel more daily.
In early March, Mr. Rubio stripped Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate student at Columbia University, of his permanent residency status. Mr. Rubio said Mr. Khalil, who has Palestinian heritage and is married to an American citizen, was undermining U.S. foreign policy. Immigration agents then arrested Mr. Khalil.
In some cases, the foreign citizens at risk of losing their visas or green cards have brought cases against the U.S. government, and judges have issued temporary restraining orders on federal actions.
In March, Mr. Rubio boasted about revoking the visa of a Turkish doctorate student and Fulbright scholar at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk. The only protest action she had done of any note was to co-write an essay in a student newspaper calling for university support of Palestinian rights and divestment from Israel. A judge this month ordered immigration officers to free her from a detention center.
Andy Newman contributed reporting.
Edward Wong reports on global affairs, U.S. foreign policy and the State Department for The Times.
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