US suspends student visa processing
Cambridge, United States - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered a suspension of student visa processing in the latest swipe at foreign students in the country.
The White House is cracking down on foreign students at US universities, revoking visas and deporting those involved in protests against the war in Gaza.
A cable signed by Rubio and seen by AFP orders embassies and consulates not to allow "any additional student or exchange visa appointments" until further guidance is issued.
The government also plans to ramp up vetting of the social media profiles of international applicants to US universities, the cable said.
The move came as Harvard students protested after the government announced its intention to cancel all remaining financial contracts with the elite school, Trump's latest attempt to force the institution to submit to unprecedented oversight.
Hundreds of students gathered to oppose Trump's widening offensive, including Tuesday's measures estimated to be worth $100 million, against the university that has drawn his ire for refusing to give up control of curriculum, admissions and research. "Trump = traitor" read one student placard, while the crowd chanted "who belongs in class today, let them stay" about Harvard's international students whose status Trump has upended by summarily revoking the university's accreditation to the country's Student and Exchange Visitor program.
A judge issued a restraining order pending a hearing on the matter scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university's commencement graduation ceremony for which thousands of graduating students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston. The White House, meanwhile, doubled down in its offensive, saying that public money should go to vocational schools that train electricians and plumbers.
"The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society," Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News Tuesday evening. "
Tuesday's protest unfolded as news helicopters hovered overhead and graduating students in academic attire and their guests ate finger food at a reception on the lawns of Harvard Square nearby. "All my international friends and peers and professors and researchers are at risk and (are) threatened with being deported -- or their option is to transfer" to another university, said Alice Goyer, who attended the protest wearing a black academic gown.
One history of medicine student from Britain graduating this week, who gave his name only as Jack, said that the policies pursued by Trump would make US universities less attractive to international students. "I don't know if I'd pursue a PhD here, six years is a long time," he said.
Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump's measures, which legal experts say are likely to be overturned by the courts.
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The administration, after all, has every reason to want to intimidate those who might take part in civil disobedience. Violent protests play into its hands; peaceful ones threaten the absurd narrative it's trying to bludgeon America into accepting. Just look at the lengths to which it's going to silence David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union of California. Last week, Huerta was arrested after sitting on a sidewalk and blocking a gate while protesting an immigration raid at a work site in Los Angeles. While he was being detained, he was knocked to the ground, resulting in his hospitalisation. On Monday, the Justice Department charged him with 'conspiracy to impede an officer,' a felony that carries a maximum prison term of six years. Trump also, on Monday, called for the arrest of Newsom. If you saw all this in any other country — soldiers sent to crush dissent, union leaders arrested, opposition politicians threatened — it would be clear that autocracy had arrived. The question, now, is whether Americans who hate tyranny can be roused to respond. Many people have speculated that the confrontation in Los Angeles will play into Trump's hands, allowing him to pose as a champion of law and order bringing criminal mobs to heel. Maybe they're right; Trump is a master demagogue with a gift for creating the scenes of conflict his supporters crave. We now know that TV celebrity Dr Phil McGraw was on the ground with ICE during the raids that set off the Los Angeles unrest, filming a prime-time special. The administration appeared to want a spectacle. Public opinion, however, isn't set in stone, which is why it's important for everyone who has a platform — politicians, veterans, cultural and religious leaders — to denounce the administration's authoritarian overreach. Administration officials like Stephen Miller are pushing the idea that Los Angeles is 'occupied territory,' as evidenced by the foreign flags some protesters are carrying. Americans who still have hope for democracy should be saying, as loudly and as often as they can, that this is an insultingly stupid lie to justify a dictatorial power grab. Yes, America has lurched to the right since Trump's first term, and he can get away with abuses now that would have set off mass outrage then. Plenty of Democrats, burned by the backlash against Black Lives Matter and large-scale illegal immigration, would rather not have a fight over disorder in Los Angeles. 'For months, Democrats scarred by the politics of the issue sought to sidestep President Donald Trump's immigration wars — focusing instead on the economy, tariffs or, in the case of deportations, due process concerns,' reported Politico. 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