Ex-ambassadors urge Rubio to end international student crackdown

In a November 17 letter sent to secretary of state Marco Rubio, the bipartisan group of former senior officials and US ambassadors expressed their “dismay” over federal actions, urging the State Department and other agencies stop targeting international students and faculty for free expression.  

“Students and faculty at American universities have now been arrested, detained, and even deported in retaliation for their speech and other expression, frequently without basic due process,” they wrote.  

These actions, they said, go against the values of free speech and association, and contradict the United States’ commitment to protecting these freedoms, intended to prevent government censorship and suppression of dissent.  

The letter highlights State Department’s policy of conducting “intensive reviews of protected speech on social media, with the express purpose of punishing visa applicants and holders for their lawfully expressed views”.  

It argues the government’s attacks on international students have punished free expression and side-stepped due process, “while depriving the American people of the opportunity to hear a diverse range of views and stripping the United States of one of its greatest sources of soft power.” 

“We urge you to honour the legacy of the State Department by halting the targeting of foreign students and faculty, including under the guise of foreign policy,” it continues.  

The letter came just a week after the administration took to social media to announce it had revoked over 80,000 non-immigrant visas during Trump’s second term, 8,000 of which were international student visas.  

It cites several examples of international students being denied due process at the hands of government officials, including the high-profile case of Tufts University doctoral Fulbright scholar, Rümeysa Öztürk. 

Weeks after Öztürk was arrested and detained for engaging in activities “in support of Hamas”, The Washington Post revealed the government had never produced evidence of her antisemitic activities or statements supporting a terrorist organisation, as they had alleged. 

We urge you to honour the legacy of the State Department by halting the targeting of foreign students and faculty, including under the guise of foreign policy

Former US ambassadors

Since mid-March, sudden visa revocations by the State Department have “created a climate of fear and uncertainty on US campuses, chilling the free exchange of ideas and isolating international students and scholars”, Zuzana Cepla Wootson, deputy director of federal policy at the Presidents’ Alliance previously told The PIE News. 

She raised concerns about the lack of government transparency around the reasons behind the revocations – “many of which appeared to lack clear cause or be based on political speech or association, which was deeply troubling”. 

In a recent landmark court ruling, a judge declared the administration’s arrests and deportations of international students over pro-Palestinian advocacy illegal, prompting an immediate government vow to appeal. 

The former US envoys refuted the State Department’s justification of its actions in the name of foreign policy, warning that America’s diplomatic relations and global stature were, in fact, “suffering” because of its actions.  

“The United States is giving up its position as a magnet for the best and brightest and a centre for robust discourse and learning, and the consequences are concrete: foreign students are pursuing their education in other countries,” they wrote, highlighting the associated economic damage.   

Following Trump’s broad anti-immigration crackdown and continued assault on international students in the US, much media attention has been paid to the declining reputation of America as a study destination and the projected damage to its economy.

As per IIE’s recent Fall Snapshot Report, new international enrolments are down 17% across US campuses this year, with experts warning the pipeline of global talent in the US is in a “precarious position”. 

The PIE did not immediately hear back from the State Department. 

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