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US sparks criticism after halting student visa appointments and extending ‘social media vetting’

Many on social media called it an attack on knowledge, free speech and pro-Palestinian activism
Activists hold a demonstration in lower Manhattan against the arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University, in New York City, on 20 March 2025 (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
By MEE staff
Published date: 28 May 2025 20:34 BST | Last update: 2 weeks 2 days ago

US President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of foreign and exchange student visa appointments at its missions worldwide. 

This directive, detailed in an internal cable reviewed by Reuters and other news outlets, coincides with the State Department's preparations to enhance what it calls "social media vetting" of foreign students. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio communicated in the cable that revised guidelines on social media assessment for these visa categories are expected following a comprehensive review, advising consular sections to defer new appointments. All appointments already made will be honoured, while available appointments will be cancelled. 

"The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants," the cable said.

According to critics, this move is the Trump administration’s latest step towards cracking down on US universities, specifically international students who demonstrated support for Palestinians since Israel’s war on Gaza broke out in October 2023. 

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In early March, Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old PhD candidate at Columbia University, had her US student visa revoked by the State Department. Srinivasan, whose visa was valid until 2029, told Al Jazeera later that month she believed the revocation was due to limited social media activity, which included posts critical of Israel's actions in Gaza.

Rumeysa Ozturk was another student picked up by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for an opinion article she co-authored over a year ago with three other people in her university newspaper, The Tufts Daily, in support of Palestinians. 

Against the backdrop of many students in the US who have been detained or have faced threats of deportation, many on social media were quick to connect the suspension of new international students and stricter social media vetting rules to supporting Palestine.

Many social media users also agreed that this was an attempt to silence criticism of Israel, which has been continuing its onslaught against Palestinians, killing at least 54,000 people since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. 

One person criticised this decision because of the potential impact this ban will have on education and knowledge production in the US. The person shared data from a 2023 survey, demonstrating that about half of all graduate students in the US are foreign. 

“This is an attack on knowledge,” the social media user said. 

Many said that this ban on international students and wider checks of their social media accounts “is not about safety, it is about building a racist police state”.

One person pointed out the possible impact it could have on the US healthcare system, saying that many aspiring doctors come to the US from foreign countries. Around 26 percent of all doctors in the US are foreign-born. 

Viewing certain universities, especially elite ones such as Harvard, as excessively liberal and hotbeds for antisemitism, the US administration has recently utilised a range of rules to pressure these institutions. This approach coincides with broader immigration enforcement efforts that have impacted a number of students. 

According to a report on Tuesday, the administration is poised to cut all remaining federal contracts with Harvard University, said to be worth an estimated $100m. 

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security barred Harvard from enrolling international students. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, is looking to attract international students impacted by the Trump administration’s ban on Harvard University's enrollment of foreign students, according to a Reuters report. 

A social media user shared a report by the Japanese media outlet, Asahi Shimbun, which stated that the University of Tokyo “could accept international students from Harvard University who have been impacted by Trump's attempts to revoke their student visa status”.

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