(Washington) Foreigners wishing to study in the United States will see their accounts on social networks screened in search of anti-American content, according to new directives on Wednesday from the State Department, which will resume the processing of requests.
They will notably be invited to settle the confidentiality parameters of all their accounts to put them in “public” mode so that consular agents can verify the content, according to a senior official of the State Department under the cover of anonymity.
American consular agents will carry out a “complete and in-depth control of all students and visitors participating in an exchange program,” he said.
This “reinforced verification will allow us to ensure that anyone trying to go to our country is properly controlled,” added the official.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had ordered Embassies and Consulates at the end of May to suspend appointment for student visas while waiting for new guidelines on verification of plans for seekers on social networks.
Photo Kevin Wolf, Associated Press
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
According to a decree taken from the first day of his presidency in January, Donald Trump called for increased control of the people entering the United States to ensure that they “have no hostile attitudes towards his citizens, his culture, his government, his institutions or his founding principles”.
Since then, the Trump administration has engaged in a series of battles against universities, canceling thousands of visas and seeking to ban Harvard University from welcoming foreign students.
Mr. Rubio revoked largely visas of students who have led critical demonstrations with regard to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In April, the Department of Internal Security said that the requests of foreign students would be examined to seek any “anti -Semitic activity” likely to result in a visa refusal.
American universities attract hundreds of thousands of foreign students every year, notably Asia, especially Chinese and Indian.
For over ten years, the US government has been checking social networks for people looking to immigrate to the United States or get a green card.
