Trump orders pause of all student visa interviews at US embassies

The Trump administration has ordered a halt to all visa interviews for new international students at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world. These processes are being paused while a plan is reviewed that would require prospective students to undergo screening of their social media activity, according to a State Department cable obtained by Politico.

The directive, reported by several U.S. media outlets, was issued Tuesday and bears the signature of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The cable reads: “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.” It adds that interviews already scheduled may proceed.

EL PAÍS contacted the U.S. Embassy in Madrid for further information but received no response.

The news comes just days after the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard’s academic leadership, signed by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, revoking the university’s authorization to enroll foreign students.

The move was interpreted as an escalation in the White House’s campaign against the oldest and wealthiest institution of higher education in the United States, which it accuses of promoting “antisemitism” and “terrorism” on campus. As part of its pressure campaign, Washington had already frozen approximately $3.2 billion in federal funds and is threatening to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status.

On Friday, Harvard sued the government for what its lawyers called “retaliation,” and within hours a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the measure, arguing that implementing it would cause “imminent, concrete and irreparable harm” to the university.

On Tuesday, Trump went even further by ordering the termination of all contracts between Harvard and nine federal agencies. This new economic blow amounts to $100 million.

Thousands of visas revoked

Last week, Rubio appeared before the Senate, stating that he believed “thousands of visas” had been revoked since Trump took office. “I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,” said the former senator. “We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities.”

The last time Rubio gave an estimate was in March, when the number stood at about 300. “A visa is not a right. It is a privilege,” he said last week.

Trump’s list of grievances against Harvard and other elite universities includes accusations that they failed to adequately address alleged “antisemitism” during last year’s pro-Palestinian protests, and that they promote policies advancing diversity and equality — labeled by Republicans as “woke ideology.” He has also accused them of being leftist strongholds where conservative views are unwelcome.

In addition to Harvard, the Trump administration has targeted Columbia University. In March, the government froze $400 million in federal research funds and sent immigration agents to detain student activists, the most prominent of whom, Mahmoud Khalil, remains in detention. So far, Columbia University’s concessions — including stricter protest rules, a ban on face masks, and outside oversight of its Middle Eastern Studies department — have done little to appease the administration.

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