Rubio was speaking at an Israeli conference on "Combating Anti-Semitism" via a recorded video address on Wednesday, and asserted that Washington had adopted this policy, which he described as strict, "to prevent foreigners from coming to the United States to incite hatred against our Jewish community."
Rubio emphasized that the United States, under President Donald Trump, "will stand with the Jewish people," adding that his country holds "international organizations and countries responsible for their anti-Israel rhetoric," and asserting that "there will be no tolerance for anti-Semitism," as he put it.
On Tuesday, the US administration ordered its embassies to stop scheduling visa interviews for international students in preparation for expanded scrutiny of applicants' social media accounts.
In a copy of a memo sent to diplomatic missions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the suspension would continue "until further guidance is issued." The message also stated that social media scrutiny would be heightened before issuing student and foreign exchange visas, which would have "significant implications" for embassies and consulates.
This comes amid Trump's dispute with some of America's most prominent universities, which he believes have a far-left orientation. He claims that some of these universities have contributed to the spread of "anti-Semitism" on campuses, a reference to student-led demonstrations at American universities in solidarity with Palestine and condemning Israel's genocidal policy in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The Trump administration has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in university funding and moved to deport some students, while revoking thousands of visas for others. Many of these actions have been halted by courts.
The White House accused some American universities of allowing "anti-Semitism" to exploit pro-Palestinian activism on campus. For their part, the universities accused the Trump administration of attempting to violate free expression rights.
Harvard University has been the focus of President Donald Trump's ire, with the US government accusing the prestigious university of tolerating anti-Semitism and pro-liberalism.
Trump said Wednesday that "Harvard treats our country with great disrespect and goes further." The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it was withholding approximately $60 million in federal funding from Harvard University due to what it deemed its failure to take adequate action against pro-Palestinian student demonstrations.
The US administration is using financial cuts and investigations into universities to pressure their administrations to prevent student demonstrations in support of Palestine. In early May, the US Department of Education announced that it would not grant Harvard University any new federal funding until the university met White House demands, indicating that it would not ban demonstrations in support of Palestine.
In April 2024, pro-Palestine protests erupted at Columbia University in the United States and spread to more than 50 universities across the country. Police detained more than 3,100 people, most of them students and faculty members.
