Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a hearing of the Committee of the Foreign Affairs Chamber on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
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Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Washington – The State Department interrupted the planning of new interviews on visas for foreign students in the hope of studying in the United States while it is preparing to extend the screening of their activity on social networks, officials said.
An American official said on Tuesday that the suspension was intended to be temporary and does not apply to candidates who had already planned their visa interviews. The manager spoke under the cover of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document.
A cable signed by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by the Associated Press says that the State Department plans to publish advice on the extended verification of social media.
“Immediately carry out, in preparation for an expansion of screening and the verification of the required social media, the consulate sections should not add an additional ability to appoint students or exchange” until the directives are issued, indicates the cable.
Asked about the suspension during a briefing on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce, said that the United States uses all the resources available to examine the people postulated for visas.
“We will continue to use all the tools we can to assess who is who comes here, whether they are students or otherwise,” said Bruce.
This decision, reported for the first time by politico, is the last of the Trump administration’s repression against international students.
Last week, the Trump administration revoked the capacity of Harvard University to register international students, withdrawing the program’s college which allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas. This effort was quickly challenged in court and is for the moment blocked by a federal judge.
This spring, the administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, which led some to leave the United States for fear of expulsion. After many students have tabled successful legal challenges, the administration said it restored the legal status of students. But the government has also widened the reason for the end of the legal status of international students in the future.
The previous administration of President Donald Trump intensified the control of all Visa candidates, presenting exams of their social media accounts. Policy remained during the administration of President Joe Biden.
A prolonged break in the programming of student visas could lead to delays that could disrupt students’ plans, the pension or exchange school to register for summer and fall conditions.
A slowdown in the registration of international students could affect university budgets. To compensate for the reductions in federal research funding, some colleges have come to register more international students, who often pay for tuition fees.
