Such applicants include but are not limited to prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists, the cable said.
Harvard University failed to maintain “a campus environment free from violence and anti-Semitism”, the cable said, and that the enhanced vetting measures were aimed at helping consular officers identify visa applicants “with histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”
PRIVATE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS The move is also part of the Trump administration’s intensifying immigration crackdown and follows Rubio’s order to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants.
Implementation of this order will also serve as a “pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants,” the cable adds, raising the possibility of the measures taken against Harvard and visa applicants being used as a template for other universities.
She covers the U.S. State Department, regularly traveling with U.S. Secretary of State.
May 30, Washington (Reuters) – The U.S. S. In a move that greatly broadens President Donald Trump’s campaign against Harvard University, the State Department ordered all of its consular missions abroad to start conducting additional screening of visa applicants wishing to visit the university for any reason, according to an internal cable obtained by Reuters on Friday.
on May 30, in a cable distributed to all U. S. . consular and diplomatic missions, U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed that “any non-immigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose” undergo “additional vetting immediately.”. “..”.
According to the cable, these applicants include but are not restricted to potential students, faculty, staff, contractors, visitors, and guest speakers. In the cable text, the word “any” is underlined and bolded.
The cable claimed that Harvard University had not maintained “a campus environment free from violence and anti-Semitism” and that the purpose of the extra vetting procedures was to assist consular officials in identifying visa applicants “with histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”. “.
As the U.S. A. appears to be an unprecedented use of the visa process against a university that has lost favor with the administration. In the past, the administration has required additional vetting of visa applicants from specific countries.
Fox News broke the story of the extra steps for applicants with ties to Harvard, but the cable itself had not been covered before.
In response to an inquiry regarding the cable, a State Department spokesperson stated in an email that the agency does not comment on its internal documents or communications.
The oldest and richest university in the country has been the target of a multifaceted attack by the Trump administration, which has frozen billions of dollars in grants and other funding, threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status, and opened an investigation into possible discrimination against white, Asian, male, or straight employees or job applicants.
Trump claims that the top U. S. Anti-American movements are born in universities. His administration’s decision to ban Harvard from accepting international students last week was a dramatic escalation that was later stopped by a federal judge.
Harvard claims that because the Trump administration has refused to comply with its demands to control the school’s curriculum, governance, and faculty and student ideologies, it is retaliating against it.
accounts for private social media.
Following Rubio’s directive to cease making new appointments for applicants for student and exchange visitor visas, the action is also a part of the Trump administration’s escalating immigration crackdown.
The first U. S. . Earlier this week, a diplomat also announced that Washington would begin canceling the visas of Chinese students studying in vital fields and those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The cable also notes that the implementation of this order will act as a “pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants,” which could lead to other universities adopting similar policies to those imposed on Harvard and visa applicants.
Additionally, the order instructs consular officers to ask applicants to make their social media accounts public and to consider questioning the applicant’s credibility if they may be “evasive” by keeping their accounts private.
The applicant may be reminded by the officers that “limited access to or visibility of social media activity could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity,” according to the cable.
In order to make sure that the applicant’s stated reason for travel aligns with the visa they are requesting, the cable directs the consular officers to take into account any information about the applicant that does not amount to inadmissibility.
“You should deny a non-immigrant visa if you are not personally and fully convinced that the applicant will act in a manner consistent with his status while in the United States. “The cable said that.
This suggestion would come after Rubio stated in recent months that he has personally revoked the visas of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people, including students, for engaging in activities that are against U.S. immigration laws. S. . priorities for foreign policy.
On April 7, Rubio said to reporters, “If you’re coming here to cause trouble, you’re probably going to have a problem.”. “We won’t keep being foolish enough to allow individuals who are coming to destroy things to enter our nation. “.”.
Humeyra Pamuk reported, while Andrea Ricci and Franklin Paul edited.
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Based in Washington, DC, Humeyra Pamuk is a senior foreign policy correspondent. The U.S. is covered by her. S. State Department, frequently joining U.S. A. The State Secretary. She covered everything from the Arab Spring and the civil war in Syria to multiple Turkish elections and the Kurdish insurgency in the southeast during her 20 years with Reuters, which included postings in London, Dubai, Cairo, and Turkey. In 2017, she was awarded the Knight-Bagehot fellowship at the School of Journalism at Columbia University. She has a Master of Arts in European Union studies and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations.
