XPost: alt.politics.immigration, alt.politics.media, sac.politics
XPost: talk.politics.guns, soc.college.admissions

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/30/state-implements-reviews-of- harvard-visa-applicants-social-media-accounts-00375921

The State Department has told U.S. consulates and embassies to immediately begin reviewing the social media accounts of Harvard’s student visa
applicants for antisemitism in what it called a pilot program that could
be rolled out for colleges nationwide.

The cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, obtained by POLITICO,
was sent late Thursday. It says consular officers should “conduct a
complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa
applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.” The
policy, while primarily affecting students, will also include faculty
members, researchers, staff members and guest speakers at Harvard.

The policy will take effect immediately, per the cable. The State
Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The document puts into motion a proposal the Trump administration floated earlier this week for expanded social media vetting of all foreign
students applying to U.S. colleges, pausing new appointments for student
visa applicants in the meantime. Increased social media vetting did
already exist, but it was previously primarily intended for returning
students who may have participated in protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Notably, State Department leadership wants consular officers to consider “whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to ‘private’ or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility.” The cable
also instructs consular officers to inform applicants with private social
media accounts that they could be viewed as evading vetting and request
they make their accounts public while the Fraud Prevention Unit reviews
their case.

It also adds to the White House’s battle with elite academic institutions
over alleged mishandling of cases of antisemitism during campus protests
in response to Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip against
militant group Hamas.

The cable specifically identifies antisemitism and antisemitic viewpoints
as the focus for consular officers but does not spell out what
specifically would rise to the level of inadmissible antisemitism in the
eyes of State Department leadership. It says that the Harvard review
process “will also serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of
visa applicants” and that “this pilot will be expanded over time,”
indicating it will likely reach other universities in the Trump administration’s crosshairs.

The new guidance comes as the U.S. government continues its showdown with Harvard for alleged failures to address antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The federal government has stripped
Harvard of billions in research funding and entered in dueling litigation
with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school. It had also suspended Harvard’s ability to enroll international students by briefly blocking visa
applications before that decision was blocked by a federal judge.

It also comes as the administration has targeted other academic
communities, including Chinese nationals studying at U.S. colleges and universities. Rubio said Wednesday the administration would “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese nationals studying in sensitive fields, the
potential implementation of which has flummoxed State Department
officials.


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)