The United States has announced temporarily halting new student visa interviews, in an ongoing crackdown to bring in checks regarding the selection of international students.
The move comes as part of Trump administration to require all the foreign students aspiring to study in the US to undergo social media vetting as part of their application, Politico reported on Tuesday.
The Trump government has ordered all the embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, the report said.
The order was issued via a diplomatic cable sent on Tuesday by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued,” Rubio said in a statement.
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The US administration had earlier imposed social media screening requirements, however, it was largely aimed at international students who may have participated in protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The fresh move comes shortly after the Trump administration cancelled all remaining federal contracts with Harvard University, estimated to be worth $100 million.
A letter reviewed by Bloomberg News, sent by Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, directed all federal agencies to evaluate their existing contracts with Harvard University and its affiliates. Agencies have been instructed to terminate those contracts deemed non-critical and to shift to alternate vendors where necessary. The fund cut for Harvard comes on top of $2.65 billion in recent federal cuts to the Ivy League university.
The Trump administration had earlier cancelled Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students. The school has argued revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was “clear retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically rooted policy demands.
