Trump-Harvard standoff: US suspends processing of foreign student visas

In an internal document, the State Department is now asking embassies and consulates not to authorize “appointments for new student visas or exchange programs,” pending the release of “guidance on the enhanced social media review of all such applications.” The suspension could be brief, according to the document, which indicated that embassies would receive new guidance “in the coming days.”

"The goal, as the president and Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio have stated, is to make sure that the people who are here understand what the law is, that they do not have criminal intent," said the spokesperson for the US Secretary of State, Tammy Bruce.

Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, hundreds of foreign students have already had their visas revoked, while students legally resident in the United States who participated in pro-Palestinian protests have been arrested and threatened with deportation.

Regarding Harvard, the American president wants to ban it from admitting foreign students, who represent 27% of its total enrollment. A federal judge, however, has suspended the administration's decision to revoke its SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor) certification, while a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday, graduation day.

Despite this respite, both American and international students expressed their concerns Tuesday during a protest outside the institution, amid calls to "let foreign students stay." "All my international friends and classmates, professors and researchers are in danger and threatened with expulsion, or their option is to change universities," said Alice Goyer, in a black gown.

"Foreign students who are here don't know where they stand, those abroad don't know if they'll be able to come back... I don't know if I'll do my doctorate here," adds Jack, a British student who only gives his first name.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Japan have already said they plan to open their universities to foreign students who would be forced to forgo attending Harvard. "We have asked (Japanese) universities to consider possible support measures, such as accepting foreign students enrolled in American universities," Japanese Education Minister Toshiko Abe said Tuesday, while universities in Tokyo and Kyoto have indicated they are considering some.

The US government accuses the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based institution of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish on its campus and of propagating progressive, so-called "woke" ideologies. This term is used pejoratively by conservatives to refer to policies promoting diversity as well as academic research on gender or racial discrimination. The government also accuses Harvard of having ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

"I don't know exactly what the (government's) motives are, but I do know that some people are engaged in a cultural battle," Harvard President Alan Garber told NPR, calling on all U.S. universities to "stand firm" in the face of the government's offensive.

The federal government has already cut more than $2 billion in grants to the university, halting some research programs. According to US media reports, government contracts with Harvard, which are in the White House's sights, are worth $100 million.