The United States is checking on social networks of student visa candidates, according to the New York Times
For a week now, US consular officers have been instructed to convey the names of certain candidates for student visas and visas to exchange visitor to US visitors to the review of what they wrote, shared or liked on social media.
The Directive has been of Secretary of State Marco Rubio since March 25 and has entered into force immediately. The data shall be submitted to the compulsory inspection department, according to two US employees.
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The categories of visas that would cause additional control are F, M and J – student visas and visas for visitor to exchange, the telegram said.
The order comes when President Donald Trump expanded the deportment efforts, including students who spoke in support of the Palestinians during the Israeli war in Gaza, the newspaper explains. Suspecting US and Israel criticism will not be allowed to enter the country, according to US officials.
- Already in the first days of his post, Trump signed executive orders to launch a campaign to deport some foreign citizens, including those who may have a « hostile attitude » to American « citizens, culture, government, institutions or fundamental principles. »
- Trump has also issued an executive order to initiate repression against what he called anti -Semitism, which includes deportation of foreign students who participated in protests in the campus against the Israeli war in Gaza.
The telegram describes the wide parameters that diplomats need to use to decide whether to refuse a visa. Rubio’s statement was quoted in an interview with CBS News on March 16: « We do not want people in our country who will commit crimes and undermine our national security or public safety, » he said. « It’s so simple, especially the people who are here as guests. This is the visa. »
The document specifies the type of candidate whose social media publications must be carefully checked:
- Someone suspected of terrorist relationships or sympathy; who had a student visa or visa for exchange between October 7, 2023 (Hamas’s attack against Israel) and 31 August 2024; Or whose visa has been terminated after that date since October.
- A visa may be denied if by behavior or actions they show that they have a « hostile attitude towards US citizens or culture of the United States (including government, institutions or fundamental principles) ».
Such a wording can encourage foreign nationals to self -censor themselves in order to avoid endangering their chances of obtaining a visa.
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US consular officers would find it difficult to evaluate the candidate’s statements in the past and social media publications, especially if they did not know the right context.
| A spokesman for the State Department, asked for a comment, reminded that in 2019 the department changed the application forms for a visa to request information about social media accounts. |
As a Senator of Florida, Rubio puts pressure on the State Department of Joe Biden, managed by Anthony J. Blinken, to cancel visas of students participating in protests in the campus against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Since I became Secretary of State at the end of January, Mr. Rubio has canceled perhaps 300 or more visas, many of them belonging to students, he told reporters last Thursday. He said he had signed letters daily to cancel visas.
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