What happened
The Trump administration Tuesday ordered all embassies and consulates abroad to stop scheduling international student visa interviews in preparation for expanded vetting of social media accounts, according to a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by several news organizations.
Who said what
Rubio's directive arrived as President Donald Trump continues "trying to coerce Harvard University and other institutions to restrict what can be said on campuses, with a particular focus on anti-Israel speech," The New York Times said. The administration has revoked hundreds of visas and warned that "student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza," Reuters said. Rubio has characterized that criticism as "a threat to U.S. foreign policy," while critics have "called the effort an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment."
Previous First Amendment case law "makes what the State Department has been doing legally questionable for students inside the country," Stuart Anderson, the executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy think tank, told The Washington Post. Barring students "before they get to the U.S." would "cut off legal avenues that people would have once they’re in the U.S."
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Extended social media vetting "could severely slow down student visa processing," hurting the "many universities who rely heavily on foreign students" for their budgets and to fill research positions, Politico said. "Some colleges shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition," to "make up for cuts in federal research funding," The Associated Press said. The roughly 1.3 million foreign students in the U.S. also bring "billions of dollars" to the economy and bolster the U.S. "science and technology sectors," the Post said.
What next?
The interview halt is "intended to be temporary," the AP said, but an "extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays" that disrupt summer and fall term enrollment for foreign "college, boarding-school or exchange students."
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