As the Trump administration continues to obstruct the progress of foreign nationals seeking student visas in the U.S., we take a look at the latest updates affecting American universities and visa applicants.
Student Visa Interviews Resume—With Increased Applicant Screening
The end of May saw the State Department temporarily pause any new scheduling of visa interviews for foreign students; a move named as “the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students.”
The suspension was intended to halt visa proceedings while in-the-works guidance on expanded social media vetting for international students was finalized.
A month later, the promised guidance is here, and visa interviews for international hopefuls have resumed under these new instructions.
The new guidance, released in a State Department cable, compels consular officers to screen the social media and online presence of those applying for student visas in the U.S.. The guidance applies to both new and returning student visas. Screenshots are advised to be taken, and extensive notes are required; both limit the possibility of later online editing. The “online presence” referenced here extends beyond social media profiles and into any database accessible by consular officers.
These procedures were implemented within five days of the cable’s release.
Why Is the Trump Administration Increasing Screening?
To understand why the State Department has created this guidance, we must first explore what they are looking for.
Employees reviewing the online presence of visa applicants have been instructed to search for any signs that they “bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.” In addition, they should look for any “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security” and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.”
Listed amongst the examples of what-to-flag is support for or endorsement of Hamas, as well as “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism.”
The Source of These Reasons
You may notice that these reasons echo those cited for the attacks against Harvard—to recap, these were the school’s:
- Persistence “in prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its admissions,”
- Development of “extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries, receiving more than $150 million from China alone;”
- Failure to “adequately address violent anti-Semitic incidents on campus, with many of these agitators found to be foreign students.”
Just as in the Trump administration’s earlier efforts to curtail the inclusion of foreign students across American universities, and at Harvard in particular, these social media screening guidelines acts to punish institutions for their “handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus” and to “root out what it alleges is rampant antisemitism and liberalism at elite institutions of higher learning.” It is announced against the background of the State Department’s continued efforts to deport anti-Israel activists who assisted in the running of campus protests.
In an interview with The Free Press, a senior State Department official remarked that this guidance would help make America safer for its citizens. “Removing foreign nationals from the United States, even when they have clearly violated our laws, is a lengthy, expensive, and difficult process,” the cable remarked. The guidance looks to eliminate the need for this process by preventing the foreign nationals from entering the U.S. in the first place.
While none of the factors for which consular officers are ordered to search would result in immediate ineligibility, they would likely “trigger additional review.” This latest instruction is just one ripple in the dropped stone of the State’s efforts to “limit pathways to legal immigration to the United States in tandem with its crackdown on undocumented migrants on U.S. soil.”
Effect on Future Visa Application Processes
The expanded, intensified screening ordered by the State Department’s cable will add to the workload of consular officers and will likely slow down visa processing. In fact, the cable acknowledges this delay, saying that resumed schedules should account for it.
With slower visa processing likely to occur, embassies have been ordered to prioritize candidates. They should first tackle applications from:
- Physicians applying for a “J-1” visa for educational exchange;
- Students looking to “study at a U.S. university where international students constitute 15 percent or less of the total student population.”
At Harvard, international students make up 27 percent of the student body.
Good News for Harvard’s Foreign Students: Preliminary Injunction Blocks Trump’s Ban
The Ban on Harvard’s Foreign Students
In late May, the Trump administration revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification without warning. The revocation made it impossible for Harvard to enroll international students and researchers. It was described by the university as “immediate and devastating,” affecting over 7,000 visa holders.
Shortly after, on June 4th, Trump signed a Proclamation which blocked foreign students from joining exchange programs at Harvard and instructed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “consider revoking existing F, M, or J visas for current Harvard students who meet the Proclamation’s criteria.”
The efforts were the latest in the Trump administration’s attack on international students. The targeting of Harvard in particular was cited by the White House to be due to the school’s persistence “in prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its admissions, development of “extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries,” and failure to “adequately address violent anti-Semitic incidents on campus.”
At the time, a temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked the administration’s actions against Harvard. The order was extended while Burroughs reviewed the case.
The Preliminary Injunction
Now, Burroughs has replaced the temporary restraining order with a preliminary injunction. The injunction prohibits the federal government “from implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving any force or effect to” the previous revocation of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification. The order compelled the Trump administration to “restore every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been absent such Revocation Notice.” The order also required the federal government to detail the steps via which they would comply.
The injunction will hold while Harvard’s lawsuit against the Trump administration plays out.
