Fifteen Iranian college students and researchers sued the Trump administration for fully halting pupil visa interviews whereas it determines whether or not to vet all visa candidates’ social media accounts.
The swimsuit, filed in opposition to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a Virginia federal court docket, claims that the pause on pupil visa interviews violates the Administrative Procedures Act, a legislation prohibiting capricious rule-making. The grievance is at the moment sealed.
In an e-mail, Curtis Morrison and Hamdi Masri, attorneys for the scholars, famous that the State Department has required visa candidates to reveal their social media handles since May 2019. Visa candidates from sure Muslim-majority international locations, together with Iran, are already topic to “in depth social media vetting,” Masri mentioned, including that Trump appeared to wish to “guarantee college students coming into align along with his political values.”
The college students and researchers who introduced the swimsuit in opposition to Rubio have been admitted to universities throughout the nation — together with Yale, Ohio State, and the University of South Florida — for graduate applications in laptop science, engineering, finance, and different disciplines. Per their attorneys, every of the scholars had already attended visa interviews, however all of their purposes are at the moment “awaiting nationwide safety vetting.” Some of the scholars have been interviewed over a yr in the past.
The pause on pupil visa interviews is a part of the Trump administration’s multi-pronged assault on universities and worldwide college students. On Wednesday, Rubio mentioned the State Department would begin working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese Students, together with these with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or finding out in vital fields.” On May twenty second, DHS rescinded Harvard’s entry to a federal database used to trace international college students’ enrollment, placing practically 6,800 folks enrolled at Harvard prone to quick deportation till a federal choose intervened.
Rubio has additionally suspended the visas of worldwide college students concerned in pro-Palestine protests on campus. More not too long ago, the State Department restricted visas of “international nationals who’re chargeable for censorship of protected speech within the United States,” i.e., regulators who implement the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
