According to an internal cable that the Reuters news agency saw, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has mandated that the State Department review the social media accounts of foreigners applying for US visas who have visited the Gaza Strip for the past 18 years.
The cable includes all US visas issued by people who have “any time spent in an official or diplomatic capacity” in Gaza on or after January 1, 2007.
Nongovernmental organization employees and volunteers will also be subject to US screening.
The US visa application will be submitted for interagency investigation into whether the applicant may pose a threat to national security if the social media review finds any “potential derogatory information relating to security issues,” the cable claims.
Rubio, who previously claimed that his office had revoked more than 300 visas since the start of this year, signed the cable. Even though the US Constitution guarantees everyone’s right to free speech in the US regardless of their visa status, they include those who have student visas and have criticized Israel’s war against Gaza.
The Trump administration has previously stated that the students’ actions threaten US foreign policy. Since the beginning of the Gaza War on October 7, 2023, the president has also fought on to universities themselves, which have been the scene of significant protests.
Trump and Harvard University are currently engaged in a recent dispute. After his administration requested policy changes, the president refused to grant the university more than $2 billion in federal funding.
They include repealing affirmative action in the admissions process, removing anti-Semitism on campus, and removing the possibility of screening students who may be “hostile to American values and institutions.”
Source: Aljazeera
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