US halts new student visa interviews amid plan to expand social media checks

According to a State Department document, unplanned appointments for student and exchange visitor visas should be eliminated at embassies and consulates. Interviews that are already scheduled will take place. Until new guidelines are released, the halt will stay in place.


According to officials, the action is a component of a larger plan to boost candidates' social media screening. The new checks' contents have not been disclosed to the public.


The change coincides with growing pressure from former President Donald Trump on US institutions, who he claims are allowing antisemitic behavior under the pretense of pro-Palestinian action. Immigration decisions may be influenced by online antisemitic information or physical intimidation of Jews, according to a recent announcement from the Department of Homeland Security.

China has expressed alarm and called on Washington to protect international students' rights. A sizable percentage of international students in the US are Chinese nationals.

It is anticipated that universities will reject the program because they rely substantially on increased fees from international students. The administration and a number of institutions are already involved in legal disputes over visa revocations and funding freezes.

Trump has targeted Harvard specifically, halting billions of federal grants and trying to take away the university's ability to accept foreign students. Last week, a court stopped that attempt.

Academic experts and proponents of free speech have cautioned that the administration's actions could jeopardize constitutional rights and harm the reputation of the US higher education system abroad.