Trump sparks chaos as he bans visas for all international students

27 May 2025, 20:06 | Updated: 27 May 2025, 23:11

Donald Trump has plunged America's higher education business into financial chaos after he ordered US embassies to halt all student visa applications.

Officials have been told to stop scheduling appointments with student visa applicants by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Meanwhile, a new expanded social media vetting process is currently being prepared by the Trump administration and is likely to be implemented in the near future.

A cable seen by Politico reads: "Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days."

In the academic year of 2023-2024, the Institute of International Education Open Doors found that the United States hosted a record-breaking 1.1 million international students.

According to the NAFSA: Association of International Educators, these students generated $43.8 billion through tuition, housing and living expenses.

The move sees a continuation of the president's war on elite universities, after he accused them of antisemitism and blasted their "woke" ideology.

Mr Trump also ordered the deportation of foreign students who took part in pro-Hamas protests on college campuses in the US.

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In response to the US leader's criticism, universities such as Harvard have fought back and sued the Trump administration.

The legal action comes after the federal government revoked Harvard's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and stripped the University of its authority to sponsor F- and J- visas for international students.

Mr Trump also demanded to know the names and countries of orgin of all of the university's 7,000 foreign-born students, claiming it was unacceptable that 31 percent of attendees were "from foreign lands".

In Friday's court filing, the famous Ivy League school said Trump's actions will have an "immediate and devastating effect for Harvard".

"With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission," Harvard wrote.

"Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard."

The Trump administration has also called on government departments to axe their remaining federal contracts with Harvard, worth about $100 million.

A letter from the US General Services Administration (GSA) has instructed federal agencies to file a list of contracts they have ended with the university by June 6.

"Going forward, we also encourage your agency to seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard," the letter reads.

It was signed by the commissioner of the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service commissioner - Josh Gruenbaum.

A government official, who was not named by The New York Times, told the outlet the plans would impact contracts with around nine agencies.

The US Government has also previously accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the university had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.

In April, the Trump administration froze more than $2.2bn in contracts and multiyear grants to the university after it refused to comply with the administration's demands.

University bosses deemed the actions would have a huge impact on its hiring, admissions and other policies and filed their lawsuit against the Government on Friday.

Harvard's President Alan M. Garber said in a statement: "The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body."

The statement condemned the "unlawful and unwarranted action", and added: "We have just filed a complaint, and a motion for a temporary restraining order will follow. As we pursue legal remedies, we will do everything in our power to support our students and scholars."