Visa brake for students from the Trump administration! Social media screening expanded

The news that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed all embassy and consulate units to stop scheduling new appointments for student visas "until more social media information is collected" regarding current applications has become a major global agenda item.

In Rubio's directive, it was stated that social media scrutiny for student and foreign exchange visas would be increased and that this would have "significant implications" for embassies and consulates.

According to reports featured in the European press, the document signed by Rubio does not specify exactly what will be examined on the social media accounts of students applying for visas, but it references executive orders "aimed at keeping terrorists out and combating antisemitism."

'WE TAKE THE PROCESS OF SCREENING WHO IS COMING INTO THE COUNTRY VERY SERIOUSLY'

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question about student visas:

"We take the process of screening who is coming into the country very seriously and we will continue to do so."

On the campuses of prestigious U.S. universities, students had protested Israel's attacks on Gaza, and this situation had become a priority for the incoming Trump administration. The Donald Trump administration had for some time been making statements targeting elite universities, such as Harvard University, which it accused of "permitting antisemitism."

The Trump administration also froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding provided to universities and moved to deport students, while canceling the visas of thousands of people. Many of these actions were blocked by the courts.

The administration, which has imposed financial sanctions on the universities in question, also maintains in effect decisions that allow for practices that would result in many foreign students being detained by immigration police on the grounds that they support Palestinian demonstrations.

News Source: 12punto