State Department employees who review applications from foreign citizens for student and exchange visas will be told to review their social media posts and search for signs that they “bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles,” according to a document obtained exclusively by The Free Press.
The instructions are being announced today and will be sent to consular offices in a cable, the State Department’s official channel of communication.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an order to temporarily halt interviews with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas. That move was part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown against antisemitism at U.S. colleges and universities. The new instructions will allow interviews to resume—with new screening requirements that tell consular officers exactly what to look for.
