By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — The US State Department on Friday ordered all US embassies and consulates to “immediately begin additional vetting” for anyone seeking a visa to travel to Harvard University “for any purpose.”
The move is a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s feud with the Ivy League institution that is poised to have massive implications, as it applies to more than just students.
The “additional vetting” is comprised of “a complete screening of the online presence” of the applicants who wish to travel to Harvard, which will serve as a pilot for expanded social media screening and vetting visa applicants across the board.
“Such applicants include, but are not limited to prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists,” the diplomatic cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by CNN said.
CNN reported Wednesday that the State Department would begin reviewing Harvard-affiliated visas, but the cable provides more details about how this will be applied to those seeking the ability to visit, attend, or work at Harvard.
The cable notes that consular officers should determine, either in pre-screening or an interview, if the applicant is seeking to travel to Harvard, and such applicants should be refused a visa “pending review of their online presence.”
“As in all instances in which an applicant fails to provide certain information on request, consular officers should consider whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to ‘private’ or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility,” the cable said.
The cable, first reported by Reuters, instructs consular officers to have applicants who are otherwise eligible for a visa to set their social media accounts to public and then refer their cases to the Fraud Prevention Unit.
That unit “should conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of each such applicant, including social media activity … and more generally any online presence, to identify possible inadmissibilities, information suggesting the applicant intends to engage in activities inconsistent with the visa classification sought, or other information that might call into question the applicant’s credibility, ” the cable says.
It tells consular officers that if they “are not personally and completely satisfied that the applicant, during his time in the United States, will engage in activities consistent with his nonimmigrant visa status, you should refuse the visa.”
“The enhanced vetting measures described in this guidance aim at ensuring that consular officers can appropriately identify such visa applicants with histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence, and to duly consider the visa eligibility under U.S. immigration law,” it states.
Earlier this week, the State Department sent a separate cable suspending all new student visa appointments as they prepare the expanded social media vetting.
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