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The Trump administration has implemented a halt on all new student visa interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates as it considers a policy to mandate social media screening for foreign applicants, officials confirmed to the Associated Press. A cable dated Tuesday, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, outlines upcoming changes to the vetting process. One proposal under consideration would require all international students applying to U.S. schools to undergo social media background checks. “We’ve previously stated that students do not pose a national security risk. Framing them this way is misleading, as they make up only about 6% of total U.S. enrollment,” said Fanta Aw, executive director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, in an interview with Newsweek. Newsweek reached out to both the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for further comment. Why It Matters Halting this visa category—which saw over 400,000 issuances in fiscal year 2024—marks a significant development in the Trump administration's immigration policy. It could substantially slow the international student application process and reduce funding for institutions that depend on them. What to Know The State Department cable reads: “Effective immediately, in preparation for broader mandatory social media vetting, consular offices must not add new appointment slots for student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visas until further instructions are issued via separate communication.” USCIS began plans in early March to enhance immigrant social media screening, citing national security reasons. Foreign Secretary discusses student visa backlog with German Ambassador Applicants for green cards or U.S. citizenship from within the country are already required to provide social media details. Expanding this to those seeking to immigrate would impact about 2.5 million individuals annually. The State Department's role includes assessing visa eligibility during embassy or consular interviews. Temporary halts like this often occur when new policies are being introduced, but this action follows months of heightened scrutiny of international students. Authorities have moved to revoke visas of students currently studying in the U.S., particularly those allegedly tied to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses. Rubio has argued that some of these protests were pro-Hamas and against U.S. foreign policy. Recently, the administration attempted to strip Harvard of its right to enroll international students—a move that faced legal pushback and was paused. President Trump later demanded a list of all foreign students at Harvard, criticizing that many of their countries do not contribute financially to their U.S. education. Public Reaction At a Tuesday briefing, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce emphasized that the U.S. will continue to use all available tools to assess visa applicants: “That includes students and other categories.” Bangladeshis can now apply for student visa at Romanian embassies in Hanoi and Bangkok Fanta Aw told Newsweek that NAFSA would urge Congress to demand more transparency and warn of the likely impacts on the upcoming academic term. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that halting student visa interviews could jeopardize approximately $44 billion in economic activity and over 370,000 jobs, citing NAFSA figures. “If the U.S. ceases accepting foreign students, the economic fallout could be severe,” he said. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated last week in regard to the Harvard case: “Allowing universities to admit international students is a privilege, not a right, especially when those students help bolster large endowments through higher tuition.” What’s Next A U.S. official speaking anonymously to the AP clarified that the freeze is intended to be temporary and won’t affect individuals who already have scheduled interviews. However, a prolonged pause could disrupt enrollment for summer and fall semesters and hinder the plans of college, boarding school, and exchange students. Many universities, which have increasingly relied on international students paying full tuition to balance shrinking federal research funds, could face financial pressure if enrollments decline. Source: With inputs from Newsweek 

The Department of Homeland Security said more migrants may be released into the United States to pursue immigration cases when Trump-era asylum restrictions end next week in one of its most detailed assessments ahead of the major policy shift. The department reported faster processing for migrants in custody on the border, more temporary detention tents, staffing surges and increased criminal prosecutions of smugglers, noting progress on a plan announced in April. But the seven-page document dated Tuesday included no major structural changes amid unusually large numbers of migrants entering the country. More are expected with the end of Title 42 authority, under which migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19. A federal judge in Washington ordered Title 42 to end Dec. 21 but Republican-led states asked an appeals court to keep it in place. The Biden administration has also challenged some aspects of the ruling, though it doesn't oppose letting the rule lapse next week. The legal back-and-forth could go down to the wire. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled this week to El Paso, Texas, which witnessed a large influx Sunday after becoming the busiest corridor for illegal crossings in October. El Paso has been a magnet for Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Cubans, Colombians, Ecuadoreans and other nationalities. The geographic shift to Texas' westernmost reaches was likely a result of smugglers' calculations on the best route, said Nicolas Palazzo, an attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso. Like other advocacy groups that work directly with directly with Homeland Security, Palazzo said he has had no conversations with the department about post-Title 42 planning. One key question: How will authorities process migrants who have long been waiting to seek asylum? U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said Customs and Border Protection officials told him Wednesday that about 50,000 migrants are believed to be waiting to cross once Title 42 is lifted. Read more: Those wanting to travel to US as visitor or student should apply as early as possible: Embassy Authorities plan to admit those seeking asylum who go through ports of entry but return to Mexico those who cross illegally between official crossings, Cuellar said in an interview. It was unclear how they will return nationalities that Mexico won't accept — like Cubans and Nicaraguans — and are difficult to send home due to strained diplomatic relations and other challenges. Administration officials are developing additional measures, which Cuellar said they would not disclose. “I think the first week is going to be a little bit of chaos,” he said. U.S. officials in El Paso are currently exempting 70 migrants daily from Title 42, said Palazzo, who questioned how officials will handle more people. Unless they raise processing capacity significantly, migrants who go through official crossings may be told to wait a year or so for an appointment, said Palazzo. “Realistically can they tell me with a straight face that they expect people to wait that long?” In its latest assessment, CBP said government agencies “have been managing levels well beyond the capacity for which their infrastructure was designed and resourced, meaning additional increases will create further pressure and potential overcrowding in specific locations along the border.” More single adults and families with young children may be released into communities with instructions to appear in immigration court without help of nongovernmental groups or financial sponsors, the department said. The department didn't indicate how many migrants may cross the border when Title 42 ends. Earlier this year, they expected as many as 18,000 a day, a staggering number. In May, migrants were stopped an average of 7,800 times a day, the peak month of Joe Biden’s presidency. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, migrants were stopped 2.38 million times, up 37% from 1.73 million times the year before. The annual total surpassed 2 million for the first time. The numbers reflect deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries, relative strength of the U.S. economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.

The Biden administration, reacting to a federal court ruling in Texas, has suspended an order that had focused resources for the arrest and deportation of immigrants on those who are considered a threat to public safety and national security. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Saturday it will abide by the decision issued this month, even though it “strongly disagrees” and is appealing it. Immigrant advocates and experts on Monday said the suspension of Biden’s order will only sow fear among immigrant communities. Many living in the country illegally will now be afraid to leave their homes out of concern they’ll be detained, even if they’re otherwise law-abiding, said Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell University. Also read: Biden urges Western unity on Ukraine amid war fatigue Prioritizing whom to arrest and deport is a necessity, he said. “We simply don’t have enough ICE agents to pick up and put into proceedings everyone who violates our immigration law,” Yale-Loehr said. The Texas case centers around a memorandum Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, issued last September, directing immigration agencies to focus their enforcement efforts on those who represented a threat to national security or public safety or who recently entered the U.S. illegally. The approach was a departure from President Donald Trump’s administration, when immigration agencies were given wide latitude on whom to arrest, detain and deport, prompting many immigrants without legal status to upend their daily routines to evade detection, such as avoiding driving or even taking sanctuary in churches and other places generally off limits to immigration authorities. But on June 10, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in southern Texas voided Mayorkas' memo, siding with Republican state officials in Texas and Louisiana who argued the Biden administration did not have the authority to issue such a directive. In response, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will make enforcement decisions on “a case-by-case basis in a professional and responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement officials and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland,” the Department of Homeland Security said in its statement Saturday. Also read: G-7 to ban Russian gold in response to Ukraine war: Biden How the court ruling plays out in cities and towns across the country remains to be seen, advocates say. Sarang Sekhavat, political director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the largest such group in New England, said the outcome likely rests on the approach taken by local ICE field offices. Some ICE offices may elect to go after a wider range of immigrants, while others will continue to focus on going after ones that pose the greatest threats, he said. “This takes away any kind of centralized guidance,” Sekhavat said. “What this does is really leave it in the hands of the local field office and how they want to go about enforcement.” Nationwide, ICE officials arrested more than 74,000 immigrants and removed more than 59,000 in the fiscal year that ended in September, according to the agency’s most recent annual report. That’s down from the nearly 104,000 arrests and 186,000 deportations the prior fiscal year, according to ICE data. ICE spokespersons in Washington and the Boston field office, which covers the six-state New England region, declined to comment Monday, as did officials in ICE’s Los Angeles field office. But in a June interview with The Associated Press conducted before the Texas court ruling, Thomas Giles, head of ICE's LA office, said nine out of 10 immigration arrests locally involve people convicted of crimes. He said the Biden administration’s priorities didn’t bring a huge change for the region because officers were already focused on people with felony criminal convictions or prior deportations. It required them to weigh aggravating and mitigating factors and make more detailed evaluations on cases, he said, but the focus remained constant. “We’re out here enhancing public safety," Giles said.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks.

President Donald Trump’s acting head of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly resigned Monday, leaving the post ahead of schedule as the nation faces a heightened terrorism threat from extremists seeking to reverse the election.

Hackers broke into the networks of federal agencies in attacks revealed just days after US officials warned that cyber actors linked to the Russian government were exploiting vulnerabilities to target sensitive data. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm are investigating what experts and former officials said appeared to be a large-scale penetration of US government agencies. “This can turn into one of the most impactful espionage campaigns on record,” said cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch.