THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 9 TALKING POINTS Former Senior Diplomats Speak Out for Foreign Students A coalition of more than 80 former senior State Department officials and ambassadors has issued a public letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau expressing “dismay” over recent U.S. government actions targeting foreign students and faculty for their speech, academic work, and lawful protest activity. The letter, dated November 17, 2025, includes signatories who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, among them Ambassadors Wendy Sherman, Thomas Shannon, Eric Rubin, Aurelia Brazeal, and Barbara Bodine. The group argues that visa revocations, arrests, and deportations based on protected expression represent a sharp break with long-standing U.S. commitments to free speech and undermine America’s global reputation as a center for open discourse and higher education. Citing economic, academic, and diplomatic consequences, the signatories urged State to “halt the targeting of foreign students and faculty” and restore U.S. leadership on democratic values. The full letter, including all signatories, is available at https://bit.ly/ diplomat-letter. Administration Adds Roadblocks to Entry Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed U.S. diplomats to consider obesity and a wide range of chronic health conditions as grounds for denying U.S. visas, expanding the administration’s interpretation of the “public charge” rule to an unprecedented degree. The November 6, 2025, cable, first reported by KFF Health News and later verified by The Washington Post and Politico, directs consular officers to weigh conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, metabolic disorders, and mental health conditions when determining whether an applicant might impose future financial burdens on U.S. taxpayers. The guidance, drafted by political leadership and issued without the normal review process, marks a significant expansion in consular discretion. White House and State Department spokespeople framed the directive as part of a broader effort to “put Americans first” and more aggressively enforce longstanding statutory authority to deny visas to those who may require publicly funded care. Immigration attorneys, however, described the shift as sweeping, noting that many of the listed conditions have never been treated as disqualifying in their own right. Diplomats who received the cable said the new framework gives officers “more reasons not to issue a visa,” coming at a time when the administration is tightening both legal and illegal immigration pathways and pushing for historically high deportation targets. The change comes amid a series of other restrictive measures. The administration has begun implementing its September 2025 proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on many H-1B petitions, an action now the subject of multiple federal lawsuits. Employers must pay the fee before filing appeals, and exceptions are available only under what the Department of Homeland Security has called “extraordinarily rare” circumstances. Immigration advocates warn that the cost will effectively cut off access to the H-1B program for many U.S. employers, particularly in medicine, research, and education, while discouraging recruitment of high-skilled workers who traditionally bolster the U.S. economy. Similarly, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), a nongovernmental organization (NGO), warned in an October 20, 2025, analysis that the administration’s emerging posture toward refugees and asylum seekers marks a fundamental break from decades of bipartisan policy. At a UN General Assembly side event, senior State Department officials including Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau outlined principles that sharply narrow asylum eligibility, emphasize national sovereignty, and reframe refugee status as explicitly temporary, all while asserting widespread “abuse” of the system without supporting evidence. USCRI cautioned that the approach departs from long-standing U.S. commitments under the Refugee Convention, the 1967 Protocol, and the Refugee Act of 1980, and risks weakening global norms at a time of unprecedented displacement. More than 260 NGOs have joined USCRI in urging UN member states to reaffirm refugee protections. Significantly, on November 28, 2025, following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan asylee, the Trump administration announced a pause on all asylum decisions and a freeze on the Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan. These developments paint a picture of a U.S. immigration landscape in which the federal government is steadily and deliberately closing its doors. Talking Points offers a snapshot of recent developments affecting the Foreign Service. The following items were finalized for publication on December 12, 2025.
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