Trump Halts New Student Visa Appointments for Nigerian Students, Others

•Harvard, MIT, others secure $4bn debt over funding freezes

•US president wants 15% cap on number of foreign students

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as the State Department prepares to expand social media vetting of foreign students, according to an internal cable seen by Reuters.

US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said in the cable that the department plans to issue updated guidance on social media vetting of student and exchange visitor applicants after a review is completed and advised consular sections to halt the scheduling of such visa appointments.

The move comes as the Trump administration has sought to ramp up deportations and revoke student visas as part of its wide-ranging efforts to fulfill his hardline immigration agenda.

Several hundred protesters, including Harvard University students and professors, demonstrated in support of foreign students at the Harvard campus on Tuesday, while also protesting Trump administration efforts to cut off funding to the university.

In the cable, Rubio said appointments that have already been scheduled can proceed under the current guidelines, but available appointments not already taken should be pulled down.

“The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants,” the cable said. A senior State Department official confirmed the accuracy of the cable.

State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, declined to comment on reports of the cable, but said the US will use “every tool” to vet anyone who wants to enter the United States.

“We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Bruce told reporters at a regular news briefing.

The expanded social media vetting will require consular sections to modify their operations, processes and allocation of resources, which advises the sections going forward to take into consideration the workload and resource requirements of each case before scheduling them.

The cable also advised consular sections to remain focused on services for US citizens, immigrant visas and fraud prevention.

Trump administration officials have said student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to U.S. foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas.

Last week, the Trump administration moved to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. Those roughly 6,800 students make up about 27 per cent of Harvard’s total enrollment.

The Republican president’s administration has moved to undermine the financial stability and global standing of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university after it pushed back on government demands for vast changes to its policies.

Meanwhile, Elite American universities have secured over $4 billion in additional debt since March to protect their finances amid the Trump administration’s funding freezes and proposed research spending cuts.

Harvard University, the face of the fight, has boosted its debt load 16 per cent after a bond sale in April. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology just ramped up its liabilities 18 per cent to $5.2 billion. Top-tier schools have sold taxable bonds, taken out private loans, and increased capacity for commercial paper, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Colleges are using a recession-style playbook to respond to the Trump administration’s large-scale funding freezes and proposed research spending cuts. House Republicans also hiked the endowment tax in a bill that now moves to the Senate.

The nation’s wealthiest colleges are getting a taste of the financial pressure that has long hit small colleges in the wake of the pandemic as they struggle to boost enrollment and stay afloat.

The A-list schools haven’t explicitly spelled out what they’re using the money for. But taxable debt can be used for a wider array of purposes than the tax-exempt bonds that universities typically sell.

A spokesperson for Brown University, which took out a $300 million private loan, acknowledged “the uncertainty regarding future federal policy related to research and other important priorities.” And a representative for MIT said it tries to manage for a “wide range of conditions” and the bond deal would help it do that.

Beyond borrowing, several schools are considering selling stakes of their private equity holdings. Budget cuts are also on the table. Columbia University has cut 180 staffers and Duke University is trying to slash spending, causing it to offer buyouts to employees. Schools could also look different in other ways next semester.

Even those that have avoided the direct ire of the Trump administration are on alert. In Washington, the Catholic University of America told investors ahead of an upcoming bond sale that, like other colleges, it is monitoring the risks of policy changes.

“While the University’s relatively conservative religious orientation provides some insulation against certain types of political risk, particularly those of a social nature, its research focus and global recruitment profile create exposure to others,” according to bond documents.

To offset any potential decline in international students, which made up about 11 per cent of last year’s fall class, the school is trying to boost domestic enrollment by expanding online offerings and launching an accelerated nursing degree programme, according to bond documents.

Harvard, which has seen more than $2 billion of grants and contracts frozen by the Trump administration, announced it was using $250 million of its own funding to support research. It has also asked alumni for donations to help plug spending gaps.

Meanwhile, Trump said on Wednesday that Harvard University should have a 15 per cent cap on the number of foreign students it admits and that the Ivy League school needs to show the administration their current list of students from other countries.

“Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office.”