Trump Admin Freezes All New Student Visa Interviews In Major Blow To Elite Universities

The Trump administration is blocking all new student visa interviews in preparation for upcoming social media vetting requirements for all international students.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a cable on Tuesday directing U.S. embassies to “not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued … which we anticipate in the coming days,” according to a document POLITICO obtained.

The pause affects all applicants for student visas while the administration reportedly prepares guidance for expanded social media vetting requirements.

This represents yet another blow to the finances of dozens of elite universities from the Trump administration, which has cut billions in federal grants for Ivy League institutions such as Harvard and Yale, in addition to threatening their tax-exempt status over free speech violations and DEI initiatives.

The more than 1 million international students in the United States represent a significant revenue source for many American higher education institutions, constituting nearly 30% of Harvard’s student body.

Several prestigious institutions have faced accusations of tolerating antisemitism and allowing foreign influence to spread unchecked on their campuses, issues that gained heightened attention after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and subsequent campus protests.

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This directive broadens the scope of the administration’s previous social media vetting, which had primarily focused on students returning to the U.S. after potentially participating in pro-Hamas protests.

The Department of Homeland Security announced in early April that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would begin screening foreign students’ social media for antisemitic content and any history of physically harassing Jews.

In the screening process, USCIS is considering any social media content that “indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.”

The Tuesday cable references executive orders aimed at keeping terrorists out of the country and combating antisemitism, though it doesn’t explicitly detail what the future vetting would screen for.

The State Department has not provided additional details about when the expanded vetting requirements will be implemented or how long the pause on new visa appointments might last, at the time of writing.

The Trump administration has consistently prioritized national security concerns in its immigration policies, with particular focus on identifying potential threats before they enter the country and addressing what it views as ideological bias in academic institutions.

“I think it’s crazy to invite students into your country that are coming onto your campus and destabilizing it,” Rubio said in April. “Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn’t.”