The U.S. State Department has ordered a review of student visa applicants’ social media presence and told them to make their profiles public, stepping up measures to restrict foreign nationals’ entry to American campuses over national security concerns.
The department instructed consular officers screening online accounts to watch for any indications of hostility toward the U.S.
Foreign nationals applying for student and exchange visitors visas will be asked to set their profiles to public, and the department said failure to do so would raise red flags.
The new policy will help ensure that visitors to the U.S. have been properly evaluated, a senior State Department official said, and that Americans expect such efforts to protect the country.
The announcement comes weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered embassies worldwide to stop scheduling student visa interviews as the administration weighed stricter guidelines regarding social media.
The policy further tightens scrutiny of foreigners seeking to the study in the U.S. on top of an already rigorous process that includes proving strong academic credentials, financial means and intent to return home after graduation.
International students accounted for 5.9 percent of the total U.S. higher education population of almost 19 million. Typically paying full tuition, they help offset costs that allow colleges and universities to provide more financial aid to U.S. citizens.
The Trump administration’s broader crackdown on immigration has spread to campuses, with moves including an order preventing foreign nationals from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard University, which a judge has temporarily blocked.
At the same time, however, President Donald Trump agreed to roll back a promised crackdown on visas for Chinese students as part of last week’s trade deal with China.
Rubio had foreshadowed further visa restrictions in March after the arrest of a Tufts University doctoral student. The student, Rümeysa Öztürk, who helped write an op-ed supporting Palestinians, was later freed on bail as she fights possible deportation.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason you are coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said at the time.
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