Fifteen Iranian students and researchers have initiated legal action against the Trump administration, protesting the suspension of student visa interviews while the administration assesses the potential for extensive vetting of visa applicants’ social media accounts.
The lawsuit, lodged in a federal court in Virginia against Secretary of State Marco Rubio, contends that the suspension of student visa interviews is in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act, which forbids arbitrary rule-making. The specific details of the complaint are currently sealed from public view.
Attorneys Curtis Morrison and Hamdi Masri, representing the plaintiffs, pointed out that the State Department has mandated the disclosure of social media handles from visa applicants since May 2019. According to Masri, applicants from certain Muslim-majority nations, including Iran, are already under significant scrutiny regarding their social media. He noted that there appears to be an attempt by the Trump administration to ensure that incoming students reflect its political agenda.
The students and researchers who have taken legal action are set to begin graduate studies in various disciplines, including computer science, engineering, and finance, at institutions across the U.S., such as Yale, Ohio State, and the University of South Florida. Their attorneys said that while all the students had previously attended visa interviews, their applications are currently stalled due to pending national security assessments, with some being anticipated for over a year.
This halt on student visa interviews is seen as part of the broader initiatives by the Trump administration targeting universities and international students. Recently, Rubio indicated that the State Department would collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take substantial action against visas for Chinese students, particularly those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. On May 22, DHS retracted Harvard’s access to a federal database used for monitoring foreign student enrollments, which placed nearly 6,800 Harvard students in jeopardy of immediate deportation until a federal judge intervened.
Moreover, Rubio has suspended the visas of international students involved in pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus. Recently, the State Department has tightened visa regulations for “foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States,” which includes regulators implementing the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
