By Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department ordered all its consular missions overseas to begin additional vetting of visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose, according to an internal cable seen by Reuters on Friday, in a significant expansion of President Donald Trump’s crackdown against the academic institution.
In a cable dated May 30 and sent to all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed the immediate start of “additional vetting of any non-immigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose.”
Such applicants include but are not limited to prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists, the cable said.
Harvard University “failed to maintain a campus environment free from violence and anti-Semitism”, the cable said, citing the Department of Homeland Security and therefore the enhanced vetting measures aim to help consular officers identify visa applicants “with histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”
The order also directs consular officers to consider questioning the credibility of the applicant if the individual’s social media accounts are private and instruct them to ask the applicant to set their accounts to public.
The additional measures on Harvard were first reported by Fox News, but the cable itself has not been previously reported.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move is part of the Trump administration’s intensifying immigration crackdown and follows Rubio’s order to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants.
The top U.S. diplomat also said earlier this week that Washington will start revoking the visas of Chinese students with links to the Chinese Communist Party and those who are working on critical areas.
The Trump administration has launched a multifront attack on the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding, proposing to end its tax-exempt status and opening an investigation into whether it discriminated against white, Asian, male or straight employees or job applicants.
Trump alleges top U.S. universities are cradles of anti-American movements. In a dramatic escalation, his administration last week revoked Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students, a move later blocked by a federal judge.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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