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State Department to ramp up screening, social media vetting for student visa applicants as interviews paused
The State Department is planning to bolster its efforts to vet and screen the social media of those applying for international student and exchange visitor visas to ensure applicants don’t pose a national security threat to the U.S., Fox News Digital has learned.
To do this, the State Department is temporarily suspending new student and exchange visitor visa interviews as it evaluates enhanced social media screenings for the application process.
The effort is the latest initiative from the Trump administration to crack down on immigration and revoke visas of those attending academic institutions in the U.S. Those who’ve publicly supported Palestine have faced increased scrutiny, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that the administration was reviewing the visa status of students who participated in pro-Palestine protests.
The Trump administration has accused students who’ve participated in these protests of supporting Hamas — a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The State Department is currently examining existing operations that go into screening and vetting student and exchange visa applications, and «based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants,» according to a Tuesday email obtained by Fox News Digital.
TRUMP ADMIN STEPS UP OVERHAUL OF NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, WEEKS AFTER WALTZ’S DEPARTURE
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that the administration was reviewing the visa status of students who participated in pro-Palestine protests. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press )
As a result, the State Department is instructing consular sections to pause adding any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued, «in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting,» the email said.
«The next step is for posts to evaluate operations and processes in preparation for this expanded social media vetting of all student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants,» said the email.
«Appointments already scheduled can proceed under current guidelines,» the email said. «However, appointments that are available, but not taken as of the release of this cable, should be immediately removed from availability.»
RUBIO FIRES BACK AFTER DEM SENATOR SAYS HE REGRETS VOTING FOR HIM, SPARKING TENSE EXCHANGE
The State Department is instructing consular sections to pause adding any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued, «in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting,» the email said. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency)
The email does not specify what additional steps would be involved in the more stringent social media screening process, but says that consular offices have been instructed to refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the Fraud Prevention Unit for a «mandatory social media check.»
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on what the existing social media policy is for applicants.
Meanwhile, Rubio told lawmakers May 20 that he expects that the State Department has already pulled thousands of visas since January following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. That’s up from the 300 the administration had revoked as of late March.
Rubio also said that his agency would continue to pull student visas, stating that a visa is not a right, it’s a «privilege.»
«I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,» Rubio told lawmakers on the Senate appropriations subcommittee overseeing foreign affairs. «We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities.»
Meanwhile, Democrats have said that the Trump administration’s effort to revoke visas is a violation of due process.
«I do think it’s a fundamental attack on freedom, because due process is the guardian of the gate to keep a government from taking away people’s life or liberty, and liberty is what happens when you take away a visa without due process,» Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., told Rubio May 20.
A student visa allows those outside the U.S. to study in the country for a specific amount of time at an academic institution. In contrast, a green card allows an individual already in the U.S. who is not an American citizen to remain in the country.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS NEW WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISA REVOCATIONS: ‘NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO A VISA’
Democrats have said that the Trump administration’s effort to revoke visas is a violation of due process. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
The State Department’s effort aligns with executive orders that Trump signed in January to protect the U.S. from foreign terrorists and other national security threats, as well as one that aims to combat antisemitism, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital.
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One of the executive orders instructs the State Department, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, the attorney general, and the director of national intelligence, to «vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks.»
Additionally, the other executive order states that the U.S. will use «all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.»
State Department,Marco Rubio,Donald Trump,Immigration,Israel
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Spain permanently pulled its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday over its opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran, ratcheting up an already tense diplomatic rift between the two countries.
The Spanish government formally terminated the ambassador’s post in its official gazette and said its embassy in Tel Aviv will now be led by a chargé d’affaires indefinitely.
Madrid had recalled its ambassador last September after Israel condemned Spain’s decision to block aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from using Spanish ports or airspace. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called the move antisemitic at the time.
When a reporter on Wednesday asked whether Spain, in general, was cooperating with the U.S., President Donald Trump replied, «No, they’re not. I think they’re not cooperating at all.»
WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION
People walk past damaged buildings following a strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
«Spain, I think they’ve been very bad,» the president said. «Very bad. Not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain.»
«I don’t know what Spain is doing,» Trump continued. «They’ve been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don’t want to pay their fair share. And they’ve been that way for many years.»
Trump added that the people of Spain «are fantastic,» whereas the leadership is «not so good.»
TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday criticized Spain’s decision to recall its ambassador to Israel permanently as «hard for me to absorb.»
«Spain is a member of NATO, and the United States and Israel are in joint operations against the Iranian regime who openly calls for the destruction of the Jewish State, attacks against the West, and seeks to purify Islam in its own image,» Graham wrote on X.
Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel, the latest flare-up in the rocky diplomatic relationship between the two countries in recent years. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
«The religious Nazi regime in Iran is the problem, not the Jewish State,» the senator continued. «I hope Spain’s actions will not encourage the tyrannical, fanatical regime in Iran — that abuses its own people — to hang on.»
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Relations between Spain and Israel have deteriorated sharply since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks.
Israel also downgraded its diplomatic presence in Spain last May after Spain recognized a Palestinian state, placing its own embassy in Madrid under a chargé d’affaires.
world politics,spain,israel,iran,world
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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing a new bill to strip FDA approval from the popular abortion pill mifepristone. The new bill builds upon proposed legislation Hawley introduced last year that would ban mifepristone and allow women to sue manufacturers profiting off of what the lawmaker deems an «inherently dangerous» drug.
The Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act was introduced in the Senate Tuesday and would prohibit the use of mifepristone for ending pregnancies.
«The science is clear: The chemical abortion drug is inherently dangerous to women and prone to abuse. Yet major companies like Danco Laboratories are making billions off it,» Hawley told Fox News Digital in a statement. «That’s why I am introducing new legislation to ban the use of mifepristone for abortion and empower women to sue its manufacturers. Congress must act now to protect the health and safety of women.»
If passed, the legislation would withdraw FDA approval for the drug and classify its distribution for abortion as a violation of federal law. In 2023, mifepristone was used in 63% of all abortions in the U.S., according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATION CALLS ON HHS AND FDA TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL APPROVAL, TIGHTEN SAFETY RULES
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced new legislation Tuesday that would ban the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide, calling it an «inherently dangerous» drug and seeking to revoke its FDA approval. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization formerly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, also estimates there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions in 2024. However, that figure accounts only for states without abortion bans and does not include abortions performed outside the formal healthcare system or in states where abortion laws differ.
Hawley raised concerns about the abortion pill last May when he introduced a separate bill that would direct the FDA to create safeguards on mifepristone, allowing women who suffered complications the right to sue telehealth providers and pharmacies for damages.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., cited research from the Ethics and Public Policy Center claiming higher rates of complications from mifepristone than listed on the FDA-approved label. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Research by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) in Washington, D.C., showed the rate of side effects when using mifepristone is 22 times higher than indications from the FDA-approved drug label.
PRO-LIFE GROUP URGES SENATE TO PRESS RFK JR. ON ABORTION PILL SAFETY, DEMAND SAFEGUARDS RETURN
The study revealed more than 1 in 10 women have reported experiencing «infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event.»
EPPC assessed 865,727 insurance claims between 2017 and 2023 for women who used the medication to terminate early pregnancy. The pill can be taken up to «70 days since the first day of their last menstrual period,» according to the FDA.
During the Biden administration, the FDA revised rules allowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth, meaning patients would not have to physically go to the doctor to receive the abortion drug.
SOUTH CAROLINA GOP LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE BILL TO CRIMINALIZE ABORTION AS MURDER
In 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected an Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine challenge that was brought to reverse the FDA’s approval and expansion for access to the drug. The ruling allowed mifepristone to remain available through telehealth and mail.
Hawley penned a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary urging him to review the data and act against the abortion drug mifepristone. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Supreme Court’s rejection was based on the group’s inability to bring a lawsuit, saying Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lacked the legal standing to challenge FDA approval. The merits of the abortion drug were never discussed or questioned in the ruling.
Last May, Hawley sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, whom Hawley questioned during Makary’s Senate confirmation hearing last year.
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«[D]uring your confirmation hearing, you pledged to me that you would ‘review the totality of the data and ongoing data’ to inform action on the drug,» Hawley’s letter to the FDA chief states. «I urge you to follow this new data and take all appropriate action to restore critical safeguards on the use of mifepristone.
«The health and safety of American women depend on it.»
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston
abortion,health,womens health,senate,drugs,congress,legislation
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