Federal officials to vet social media accounts of visa applicants heading to Harvard

1 week ago 26

ByHALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press

Federal officials are acceptable to commencement reviewing the societal media accounts of visa applicants who program to attend, enactment astatine oregon sojourn Harvard University for immoderate signs of antisemitism, marking the latest improvement successful a clash betwixt the Trump medication and the Ivy League school.

A cablegram sent Friday signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press accused the assemblage of failing to support unit and antisemitism disconnected campus. It said the vetting measurement volition assistance consular officers place applicants with a past of those offenses “and to duly see their visa eligibility nether U.S. migration law.”

The measurement was sent to each U.S. embassies and consulates, and it takes effect immediately. It volition service arsenic a aviator programme that could beryllium expanded much broadly, according to the cable.

Harvard did not instantly respond to an email requesting comment.

The assemblage was the archetypal to openly defy White House demands for changes astatine elite schools the medication has criticized arsenic hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.

Since then, the national authorities has stripped the nation’s oldest and wealthiest assemblage of $2.6 cardinal successful national grants, forcing it to self-fund overmuch of its probe operation. President Donald Trump has said helium wants to revoke the assemblage of its tax-exempt status.

Last week, Harvard sued the national authorities aft Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked its quality to big overseas students astatine its field successful Cambridge, Massachusetts. A national justice has since blocked the move.

More than a 4th of Harvard’s pupil assemblage astatine its Cambridge field are overseas students. Most are postgraduate students, coming from much than 100 countries.

Earlier this week, the State Department paused the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students looking to survey successful the U.S., saying it was preparing to grow the screening of their enactment connected societal media. It's unclear whether that intermission has been lifted.

The caller measurement expands connected Trump’s erstwhile medication introducing reviews of visa applicants’ societal media accounts. It remained successful spot during erstwhile President Joe Biden’s administration.

The measurement instructs officials to enactment whether a visa applicant does not person an online beingness oregon has their societal media accounts acceptable to backstage and whether that “may beryllium reflective of evasiveness and telephone into question the applicant’s credibility.”

“If you are not satisfied that the applicant credibility, and to your idiosyncratic satisfaction, meets the standards required by the visa classification for which helium is applying, garbage the applicant,” the cablegram said.

Officials person besides been instructed to spell beyond conscionable reviewing societal media accounts and to behaviour a broader probe of the person’s online presence, according to the cable.