Latest news with #AdditionalMeasurestoCombatAnti-Semitism
NBC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Trump administrations stops new student visa interviews
The Trump administration on Tuesday stopped scheduling new interviews for international students seeking visas to study in the United States as the State Department prepares for expanded social media screening of applicants, according to an internal cable seen by NBC News. The directive was widely circulated to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts abroad and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Politico first reported the cable. The move is the Trump administration's latest strike on higher education in general and international students in particular as it cuts financial support to Harvard and arrests visa-holding students from abroad. The State Department said it would issue further guidance to consulates and embassies in the coming days. '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 visa appointment capacity," the cable said. The memo also warned of 'potentially significant implications for consular section operations, processes, and resource allocations' in a clear indication of the delay likely for student visa applications. 'Consular sections will need to take into consideration the workload and resource requirements of each case prior to scheduling them going forward,' the cable said, adding the priority should be on 'services for U.S. citizens, immigrant visas, and fraud prevention.' It was unclear how the prospective students' social media would be screened as part of the expanded vetting procedures. The public views and speech of international students have come under increased scrutiny during the Trump administration. The visas of thousands of students at college campuses nationwide have been revoked in recent weeks by the Trump administration, which says it must protect U.S. citizens from immigrants who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten national security or espouse hateful ideology. The future of foreign students at Harvard remains uncertain after the Trump administration banned their enrollment starting in the next school year. The Association of International Educators could not be reached for comment. Many universities nationwide have warned international students about traveling abroad this summer, fearing many will not be allowed to return. The crackdown could also financially affect other universities with significant numbers of foreign students. The State Department had already instructed U.S. diplomats and consular officers to refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to its fraud prevention unit for mandatory social media checks under two executive orders known as Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats and Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.
Middle East Eye
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Trump cancels $400m in federal funding to Columbia University over 'antisemitism'
The Trump administration announced on Friday that Columbia University will lose $400m in federal grants and contracts over accusations it has not done enough to combat antisemitism. On Monday, a federal task force notified the Ivy League institution that it would conduct 'a comprehensive review' of the university's federal contracts and grants as part of its ongoing investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Four government agencies including the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the US General Services Administration make up the "Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism". The task force was set up in February following Trump's executive order, "Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism", signed at the end of January. The Task Force announced last week it would visit ten university campuses which have experienced antisemitic incidents since October 2023 after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and the subsequent war on Gaza. In a joint press statement on Friday, the agencies said the funding cuts were due to 'the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Since October 7 [2023], Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses – only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,' Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the press release. The statement warned that the cancellations represent the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow. Columbia University currently holds more than $5bn in federal grant commitments. The amount announced today is almost eight times more than the amount the federal task force announced it was considering halting on Monday. Former Fox News commentator Leo Terrell, who is leading the task force, said: 'Freezing the funds is one of the tools we are using to respond to this spike in anti-Semitism. This is only the beginning. Cancelling these taxpayer funds is our strongest signal yet that the Federal Government is not going to be party to an educational institution like Columbia that does not protect Jewish students and staff.' The Ivy League university has been accused of allowing antisemitism on its campuses after a series of protests and encampments erupted last year that were sparked by Israel's war on Gaza. After Columbia students held an encampment, universities across the country followed suit. While university leadership has consistently condemned the protests, the institution has continued to be targeted by the government. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to characterise anti-Israel and anti-Zionist protests as "antisemitic", leading to congressional hearings, with members of congress grilling university administrators and law enforcement forcefully shutting down protests on campuses. Last April, the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce staged a congressional hearing entitled, 'Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University's Response to Antisemitism.' Columbia's Barnard College is first to expel students over Gaza war Read More » Congress members grilled former president Minouche Shafik and other board of trustee co-chairs in what was hailed as a 'new McCarthyism' in a letter signed by almost two dozen Jewish faculty members at Columbia and its affiliate, Barnard College. Observers say the targeting of one of the most liberal universities in the country is calculated to send a chilling effect across the country. The task force is also investigating nine other universities. In the wake of the political backlash, universities like New York University and Harvard have scrambled to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism as they come under federal scrutiny. Since coming into office, Trump ordered a pause on federal grants and loans, which has since been blocked by a judge. The Associated Press reported in February that the Trump directive has universities nationwide "scrambling to determine how a funding freeze could affect their research programs, students and faculty". Impact on Columbia and other universities 'The Columbia endowment is so big it can absorb the loss and subsidise research but other universities, especially public research universities, would struggle immensely and their research could collapse. Second tier or R2 universities would certainly not be able to absorb the loss of research grants and their research would fold,' a professor of anthropology at a US university, who wished to remain anonymous, told Middle East Eye. Tenured Columbia law professor Katherine Franke, who was forced into an early retirement by Columbia for articulating concerns to Democracy Now! about Israeli students attending Columbia right out of military service, said that what happened to her is just part of a larger climate of targeting academic freedom. 'If you look at what is happening on our campuses, it has been about anti-Palestinian racism, which gets dressed up as fighting antisemitism. That's not where they stop - that's low-hanging fruit," Franke told MEE in January. 'Where they go next is critical legal studies, critical race theory, feminism, queer theory, all the stuff the right-wing has identified as dangerous ideas.' In its press release, Josh Gruenbaum, a task force member, said, 'Doing business with the Federal Government is a privilege.' Franke added that Florida had been the testing ground for this curtailment of academic freedom, where they (Republicans) are reforming the education system, or as Franke put it, potentially 'breaking it'.
Middle East Eye
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
US Justice Department to investigate antisemitism at University of California
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the University of California (UC) over concerns surrounding antisemitism at the institution. The department says it plans to investigate whether UC's system has been discriminating against professors, staff and other employees who are Jewish by 'allowing an Antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses'. The action was announced on Wednesday by the newly-formed "Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism", which was set up by the Department of Justice in February following Trump's executive order, "Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism", signed at the end of January. The Task Force announced last week it would visit ten university campuses which have experienced antisemitic incidents since October 2023, including three UC campuses: the University of California Los Angeles; the University of California Berkeley; and the University of Southern California. The University of California is the world's largest public research university system, with ten campuses including UC Berkeley - which has been the site of several protest movements including the genesis of the Free Speech Movement in the US. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "We were recently notified of the Department of Justice's decision to initiate a civil rights investigation in the UC system. We want to be clear: the UC is unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting everyone's civil rights. We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of harassment and discrimination for everyone in the university community," UC spokesperson Stett Holbrook told Middle East Eye on Wednesday. Former Fox News commentator and UCLA alumni Leo Terrell, who is leading the task force, said in a press release that there had been "an outbreak of antisemitic incidents at leading institutions of higher education, including at my own alma mater at the UCLA campus of UC". Attorney general Pamela Bondi, who was also quoted in the release, said, 'This Department of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights, and leverage our resources to eradicate institutional Antisemitism in our nation's universities.' Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, colour, national origin, sex, and religion. Under Title VII, the US Justice Department has the authority to initiate investigations against state and local government employers where it has reason to believe that a 'pattern or practice' of employment discrimination exists. Other universities the task force will be targeting include George Washington University; Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; New York University; Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota; and Columbia University. Princeton University implicated in Gaza and Sudan wars, report says Read More » Protests against Israel's war on Gaza swept through university campuses soon after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to characterise anti-Israel and anti-Zionist protests as "antisemitic", leading to congressional hearings grilling university administrators and law enforcement forcefully shutting down protests on campuses. In the wake of the political backlash, universities like New York University and Harvard have scrambled to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism as they come under federal scrutiny. On Monday, the federal task force announced it was considering halting more than $51.4m in federal contracts with Columbia University due to alleged campus antisemitism. The task force said it would also conduct a comprehensive review of more than $5bn in federal grant commitments to Columbia to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities. Since coming into office, US President Donald Trump ordered a pause on federal grants and loans, which has since been blocked by a judge. The Associated Press reported in February that the Trump directive has universities nationwide "scrambling to determine how a funding freeze could affect their research programs, students and faculty".
