The State Department is temporarily halting interviews abroad with foreign citizens applying for student and exchange visas as it expands scrutiny of applicants’ social media posts.

美国国务院正在暂停对赴美留学、交流的外国公民在海外申请签证需要进行的面谈，同时加强对申请者的社交媒体帖子的审查。

The order was issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a cable dated Tuesday that went out to U.S. embassies and consulates. A State Department official confirmed on Tuesday that Mr. Rubio had given the order to pause new interview appointments until further guidance.

这项命令是国务卿马可·鲁比奥在周二发给美国驻外使团的电报中下达的。国务院一名官员周二证实了鲁比奥已下令暂停新的签证面谈预约，直至另行通知。

“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting,” the State Department said in a statement, without specifying what could flag an applicant for rejection under a new social media policy. The statement noted that visa applicants have been asked to provide social media account information on forms since 2019.

“我们使用所有可找到的信息来筛查和审查签证，”美国国务院在一份声明中写道，声明并未具体说明，根据新出台的社交媒体政策，哪些内容可能导致申请人被拒签。声明指出，从2019年起，签证申请表上就要求申请者提供自己的社交媒体账号信息。

The secretary of state’s order comes as President Trump is trying to coerce Harvard University and other institutions to restrict what can be said on campuses, with a particular focus on anti-Israel speech.

 国务卿鲁比奥颁布这一命令之际，特朗普总统正试图迫使哈佛大学和其他机构限制校园言论，尤其是反以色列的言论。

Mr. Trump this month said the U.S. government would no longer grant Harvard the right to enroll international students. On Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking Mr. Trump from moving forward with the action against Harvard and foreign students.

特朗普本月曾说，美国政府将不再授予哈佛大学招收国际学生的权利。一名联邦法官已在上周五颁布了一项临时限制令，阻止特朗普针对哈佛大学和外国学生采取进一步的行动。

Many universities in the United States rely on foreign students to pay full tuition. Those students are responsible for a substantial portion of the annual revenues of many American universities. On some campuses, foreign students make up the majority of researchers in certain disciplines, mainly in the sciences.

美国许多大学依赖外国学生支付的全额学费。这些学生是许多美国大学年度收入来源的相当一部分。在一些大学，外国学生是某些学科（主要是理科）研究队伍的主力军。

Foreign students collectively pursued more than 1.3 million degrees in higher education in 2023, according to a report by the Department of Homeland Security. Visiting professors from abroad will also be affected by the new restrictions.

据美国国土安全部的一份报告，外国学生2023年在美国攻读的高等教育学位总数超过130万个。来自国外的访问教授也将受到新规影响。

Foreign citizens with existing interview appointments for student or exchange visas should in theory still be able to attend those.

理论上，已经预约了学生签证或交流签证面谈的外国公民仍能如期进行。

In its statement, the State Department suggested the pause was a part of the ordinarily “dynamic” scheduling of interviews for such visas. The department said it bases visa timelines on what the officers need for sufficient vetting, in compliance with U.S. law and “to ensure applicants do not pose a security or safety risk to the United States.”

美国国务院在其声明中表示，暂停面谈属于这类签证“动态”排期的常规调整。国务院称审批时间线是基于签证官按照美国法律对申请人进行充分审查所需的时间，“以确保申请人不给美国造成国家安全或治安风险。”

Mr. Rubio issued a cable on March 25 that told consular officers to scrutinize the social media content of some applicants for student and other types of visas. That directive said that officers need to refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the “fraud prevention unit” for a “mandatory social media check.”

鲁比奥曾在3月25日发电报指示领事官员仔细审查某些申请学生签证和其他类型签证的人的社交媒体内容。该指令说，签证官需要将某些学生签证和交流访问签证申请人的材料转交给“欺诈预防部门”，进行“法定的社交媒体审查”。

In recent months, Mr. Rubio has spoken about canceling student visas, revoking permanent residency status (“green cards”) and scrutinizing the social media history of foreign visitors, mainly in the context of outrage around Israel’s war in Gaza. He has said pro-Palestinian protesters on campuses have harassed other students, destroyed property and disrupted daily life, even though those acts have not been widespread across university protests.

鲁比奥近几个月来多次公开提到撤销学生签证、撤销永久居留身份（“绿卡”），以及仔细审查外国访客的社交媒体历史记录，这些举措多与以色列的加沙战争引发的愤怒相关。他称大学校园里的亲巴勒斯坦抗议者存在骚扰其他学生、破坏财物以及扰乱日常生活等行为，尽管这些行为在大学抗议活动中并不普遍。

Critics say the Trump administration is trying to suppress free speech and promote ideological conformity.

批评人士称，特朗普政府正试图压制言论自由，促进意识形态上的遵从。

Mr. Rubio told reporters in late March that he had revoked 300 or more visas, many of which were issued to students, and was continuing to cancel more daily.

鲁比奥今年3月底对记者说，他已经撤销了300份或更多的签证，其中许多是发给学生的，而且他每天都在继续撤销更多的签证。

In early March, Mr. Rubio stripped Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate student at Columbia University, of his permanent residency status. Mr. Rubio said Mr. Khalil, who has Palestinian heritage and is married to an American citizen, was undermining U.S. foreign policy. Immigration agents then arrested Mr. Khalil.

今年3月初，鲁比奥撤销了马哈茂德·哈利勒的永久居留权，哈利勒曾在哥伦比亚大学读研究生，最近刚毕业。哈利勒是巴勒斯坦人，与一名美国公民结了婚，鲁比奥称哈利勒破坏了美国的外交政策。移民官员后来逮捕了哈利勒。

In some cases, the foreign citizens at risk of losing their visas or green cards have brought cases against the U.S. government, and judges have issued temporary restraining orders on federal actions.

部分面临失去签证或绿卡风险的外国公民已对美国政府提起诉讼，并已有法官对联邦政府的行动颁布了临时限制令。

In March, Mr. Rubio boasted about revoking the visa of a Turkish doctorate student and Fulbright scholar at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk. The only protest action she had taken of any note was to co-write an essay in a student newspaper calling for university support of Palestinian rights and divestment from Israel. A judge this month ordered immigration officers to free her from a detention center.

今年3月，鲁比奥曾夸耀自己撤销了在塔夫茨大学读博士学位的土耳其人、富布赖特奖学金获得者鲁梅萨·奥兹图尔克的学生签证。她唯一具有公众影响力的抗议行动是在一份学生办的报纸上与他人合写了一篇呼吁大学支持巴勒斯坦人权利、撤资以色列的文章。一名法官本月已下令移民官员将她从一个拘留中心释放。