Posted on 05/31/2025 3:14:49 PM PDT by Libloather
The State Department has told U.S. embassies and consulates to expand vetting for all visa applicants who wish to come to Harvard University, including visitors as well as students, according to an email obtained by CBS News.
In an internal email dated May 29 and sent by Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, consular officers were told that this "additional vetting" applies to anyone wanting a visa to come to Harvard for "any purpose." That includes current or prospective students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers and even tourists, per the email.
The email told consular officers to "conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose." Officers should also "consider whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to "private" or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant's credibility."
The email said consular officers can also request applicants to set their social media accounts to "public" for vetting purposes.
Notably, the email states that the new vetting procedure for Harvard will also serve as a "pilot for expanded screening and vetting" of visa applicants "generally," including for student visas. The State Department "may announce similar measures for other groups of visa applicants as appropriate, and in accordance with U.S. law".
A source familiar with the email who was granted anonymity to speak freely told CBS news that it will likely be difficult to implement the vetting instructions uniformly across all US consular sections around the world, and for all universities assuming this pilot process gets expanded to foreign applicants for other U.S. universities.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
That’s ridiculous. Singling out one school is never going to withstand judicial scrutiny. It’s basically begging for an injunction that will be upheld.
When a Democrat is in the WH it’s “The U.S. State Department.”
Headline is stupid.
BS
If a dizzy foreign broad says she wants a student visa to come to Harvard to graduate and then get a permanent job as a “perfeser”, don’t let them in. We’ve got Americans who want that job.
Go get some Preperation H for your butt hurt.
Phooey! Harvard already rigorously vets her perspective students!
The only issue is Palestinians and Chinese communists.
Do you think I'm wrong? That Harvard will challenge this and lose?
If you want to punish Harvard, this is a stupid way to do it.
The foreign students coming to many of the schools at Harvard are quite well connected. In many cases their family members are involved at a high level of their government. They’ll get their visas.
Yes you are wrong, Harvard is refusing to meet very reasonable demands to open their enrollment data on foriegn students, Harvard is also turning down higher qualified American Students with higher scores through discrimination and choosing to select lower qualified foreigners based on darker skin color.
A private school has no inherent right to tax payer money and no special privilege to discriminate against American citizens as they are currently doing.
Harvard will and is losing.
The order would be better if Columbia U were also included in the “checking it twice” category.
Yes, and most of that is illegal.
A private school has no inherent right to tax payer money and no special privilege to discriminate against American citizens as they are currently doing.
Also very true. But none of that has anything to do with the "additional vetting" as is being reported in this article. Harvard will win on that issue if the story is being reported correctly.
See, the difference between us is that I want to see Harvard punished in a way that will actually stick, not just with grandstanding gestures that fire up the base but end up failing.
Harvard will and is losing.
Are you sure about that...?
Judge blocks Trump administration's effort to bar Harvard from enrolling international students
A federal judge in Massachusetts said Thursday that she plans to grant a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University's ability to have international students.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said in a hearing Thursday that she plans to issue the preliminary injunction Harvard requested, and extended a temporary restraining order that prohibits the administration from following through on its threat.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-harvard-foreign-students-ban-30-days-to-reply/
Still sure that Harvard will lose this case?
I detest Harvard. But I also despite ignorant attempts to punish Harvard that any decent lawyer knows will fail. If you're not going to use some intelligence and punish Harvard in a way that will survive legal scrutiny, don't bother. Because all you're going to do is make Harvard a hero to the left as they win these cases.
It’s not “only” Harvard; do try to keep up.
According to this article it is. They're calling it a "pilot" program that "might" be expanded elsewhere, but that doesn't change the fact that they're singling out Harvard.
And I notice you had no comment on Harvard already winning one of these cases where the Administration tried to single them out.
But hey, we'll see who is correct in a few days when the TRO/injunction is heard.
Money has already been pulled from Columbia AND the vetting of foreign students applies to ALL of these colleges/universities.
Up next is Penn, as they have gotten HUGE sums from the CCP.
It's not my "fault" that YOU don't keep up on this; I do!
Do you believe what's in every article or do you dig deeper?
Yes I am sure, if you have actually paid attention you will see the majority of these injunctions across all the issues are being overturned. One low end politically biased judge’s injunction does not indicate any sort of trend.
It is literally the authority reserved to the president to manage visa’s, that judge is yet another operating outside the constitutional authority given to the judiciary.
Yes all those visas need rejected until we can vet the students Harvard is bringing over to ensure they are not ‘seditionists’ or worse and are NOT being selected over qualified American students.
I am not impressed with BCC. Seems to be some mixture of NT/libertarian/anarchist. In any event, his comments leave a sour taste in my mouth.
The Brits are having fits over over due to to the enforced payments one has to pay to see anything on it AND the fact that every single thing, now, on it is WORTHLESS CRAP. Oh yes, and also the fact that the damned ILLEGAL ALIENS get to watch it for NOTHING...it's FREE for them!
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