18 JULY-AUGUST 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL New Travel Ban Limits Entry from 19 Countries On June 4, President Donald Trump issued a new proclamation restricting the entry of foreign nationals from 19 countries, citing national security and public safety concerns. The order, building on Executive Order 14161, suspends entry for nationals of 12 countries—including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen—and imposes partial restrictions on seven others, including Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. The administration cited deficiencies in identity management, information sharing, and visa overstay rates as key factors behind the restrictions. The State Department will coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to review and update the list every 180 days. As we go to press, implementation of the order and possible diplomatic responses are still unfolding. Student Visas— Vetting Intensifying In early June, U.S. embassies and consulates were ordered to pause scheduling new student and exchange visitor visa appointments while the Trump administration expands its vetting of applicants’ social media activity, a policy shift first reported by Politico and confirmed by a U.S. official to the Associated Press. Although previously scheduled interviews will proceed, the pause affects new appointments as consular officers prepare for expanded review protocols. The expanded vetting specifically targets foreign students and academic institutions that have recently been much in the news. On May 30, 2025, Politico reported that the State Department, under Rubio’s direction, issued a cable ordering consular officers to immediately begin comprehensive online screenings of all nonimmigrant visa applicants affiliated with Harvard University. The new policy applies not only to prospective students but also to faculty, researchers, staff, and guest speakers. The cable ordered a review of applicants’ online presence for anti-Semitic content, adding that the Harvard review will serve as a “pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants” that is expected to extend to other universities. According to the cable obtained by Politico, consular officers have been instructed to consider limited or private social media profiles as potential signs of evasiveness, allowing fraud prevention units to request applicants make their accounts public for further scrutiny. The federal government has stripped Harvard of billions in research funding and temporarily suspended its ability to enroll international students, though that suspension was blocked by a federal judge. Instructions to the field on how and whether to implement new rules have been changing rapidly. The administration has also targeted other academic communities. On May 28, Secretary Rubio stated that the administration would “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese nationals connected to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in sensitive fields in the United States. More than a million international students enrolled in U.S. institutions for the 2023-2024 academic year. Enrollment has already declined 11 percent over the past year, according to TIME, and experts suggest that the latest policies could further discourage qualified foreign applicants. Rigas Confirmed as Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael J. Rigas was sworn in as deputy secretary of State for management and resources by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 29. A Boston native, Rigas brings more than 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He served as an associate administrator, senior adviser, and deputy administrator for the General Services Administration during the George W. Bush administration. He served in the previous Trump administration as deputy director and acting director of the Office of Personnel Management from 2018 to 2021 as well as acting deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget and acting Federal Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Prior to that, he was chief of staff at the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services and earlier worked in Republican politics and at the Heritage Foundation. The bludgeoning of PEPFAR and USAID, one of the most eloquent expressions of American values ever created, might be America’s most spectacular act of self-sabotage in generations. U.S. development assistance had its flaws, as its recipients often pointed out, but it was as close to poetry as policy gets. —U2 singer Bono in a March 15 New York Times article titled “Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True.” Contemporary Quote
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