The U.S. State Department has directed consulates and embassies to commence an immediate review of the social media accounts belonging to student visa applicants targeting Harvard University. This initiative is part of a pilot program that may extend to colleges across the nation. The announcement, made in a cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was obtained by POLITICO and was dispatched late Thursday.
According to the cable, consular officers are mandated to “conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.” This new policy affects not only students but also includes faculty members, researchers, staff, and guest speakers associated with Harvard. It is set to take effect immediately, as stipulated in the cable.
The State Department has not yet responded to requests for further clarification. This document activates a proposal discussed earlier by the Trump administration concerning enhanced social media vetting for all foreign students aspiring to enroll in U.S. colleges. In the interim, the policy has paused new appointments for student visa applicants.
While increased social media vetting measures were previously in place, they primarily targeted returning students who may have engaged in protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza. The new directive emphasizes that consular officers should assess whether an applicant's absence of an online presence or restricted social media accounts could indicate evasiveness, thereby raising questions about the applicant’s credibility.
The cable instructs consular officers to notify applicants with private social media accounts that such privacy may be interpreted as an attempt to evade scrutiny. Officers are encouraged to request that these applicants make their accounts public during the review process conducted by the Fraud Prevention Unit.
This initiative adds to the ongoing conflict between the federal government and elite academic institutions over claims of inadequate handling of antisemitism during campus protests related to Israel’s military actions against Hamas in Gaza. The cable explicitly identifies antisemitism as a focal point for consular officers, yet it does not detail what constitutes inadmissible antisemitic behavior according to State Department standards.
The Harvard review process is intended to serve as a pilot for broader screening and vetting of visa applicants, with indications that this initiative will likely expand to other universities that are under scrutiny by the Trump administration.
The new guidelines emerge amidst the U.S. government's confrontation with Harvard over its alleged inaction regarding antisemitism on campus. The federal government has already rescinded billions in research funding and engaged in legal battles with the prestigious Cambridge institution. Additionally, the Trump administration had previously suspended Harvard’s ability to enroll international students by temporarily blocking visa applications, a decision later overturned by a federal judge.
This initiative also coincides with the administration's efforts to scrutinize other academic sectors, notably targeting Chinese nationals studying in the U.S. Secretary Rubio announced plans to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students in sensitive academic fields, a move that has left some State Department officials perplexed regarding its implementation.
