A few weeks ago, liberal media erupted when Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a cable to all United States embassies and missions to pause the processing of student visas until specific protocols were tightened. This week, the State Department announced enhanced vetting techniques for student visa applications, including evaluating social media posts by applicants for "hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles."
On the surface, this decision might seem like the Trump administration is engaging in viewpoint discrimination, a point that liberal media elites repeatedly make. Colleges and universities are laboratories of diverse thought, the argument goes, so restricting freedom of speech constitutes a significant disservice to higher education’s mission. As free speech advocates ourselves, we were initially persuaded by such arguments during the first Trump administration. However, given the extent of social media reach and the increasingly divided world we inhabit, Secretary Rubio is justified in providing visas only to students who respect the American way of life.
So, what constitutes the American way of life? Are free expression and political activism not embedded in the very fabric of American society? Certainly, but America is not a country that embraces free speech at the expense of everything else. A bedrock principle of the American experience is that we are also a nation of laws. For example, we are among the foremost political experiments to have encoded property rights into our national DNA. When free speech activism interferes with these other American principles of governance, it forces us to pause.
Consider the intense protest environment following George Floyd's murder. This occurred as the pandemic intensified and American businesses had virtually shut down. With no vaccine available, the only sensible solution was to stay indoors and avoid interacting in crowds.
But somehow, driven by leftist organizations that had honed their thinking in liberal college hallways, a new theory emerged. Street protests popping up in different cities were deemed an appropriate avenue to highlight what they perceived as racial injustice. In an open letter, nearly 1,200 doctors, nurses, and epidemiologists argued that — while risky — these protests are "vital to the national public health and the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States.” "White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19. Black people are twice as likely to be killed by police compared to white people, but the effects of racism are far more pervasive." A review of the names suggests that many signatories of this letter entered America on student and exchange visas and stayed back in the United States to further their careers while promoting a hate-filled view of American whites.
What followed was unprecedented unrest. Dozens died in these protests, yet anyone posting videos or social media content criticizing the riots was immediately censored by big tech companies working hand-in-hand with the Biden campaign to elect him. When Portland fell, the devastation was so complete that America appeared to have become a banana republic. Liberal Seattle allowed protesters to establish an autonomous zone while instructing police not to interfere with the supposed inalienable right to protest. There was still no vaccine at the time, nor was there an approved medical method to treat COVID-19 infections.
The defund-the-police movement represented one of the biggest public policy failures in recent memory. Ordinary citizens despised the idea as they witnessed a crime surge when the Biden administration opened floodgates to illegal immigration. This fantasy, cooked up in university lecture halls, lost support even in Democratic circles during the 2022 midterms. Today, the idea is dead.
The post-October 7, 2023 campus protests, after Hamas mercilessly killed innocent Israelis, revealed what America had become. International students dominate American college campuses, especially in STEM fields. These students brought their worldviews to debates in the American public sphere, which was initially welcome. But many decided to take matters into their own hands, prohibiting other students—especially Jews—from normal campus activities.
The "divest from Israel" movement mirrored the defund-the-police movement. Universities benefit immensely from contributions from Israeli scientists, many of whom start companies in the United States to bring in next-generation thought leadership in various industries. Why would universities voluntarily sever ties with world-class academics and technologists, directly contradicting their research and learning missions? What did these students expect? That the Israeli Knesset would pass laws convincing Prime Minister Netanyahu to capitulate because of student protests in the United States while the Jewish state was under attack?
Free expression of unrealistic views is fine. But when free expression turns violent—as happened during recent Los Angeles riots when protesters prevented federal agents from performing their duties—something is fundamentally wrong.
It has become fashionable for international students desiring to immigrate permanently to America to hold dim views of this country. Many believe that America constitutes a net destructive force in the world. It represents one of life's greatest ironies that these international students still do everything possible to come here and, when facing deportation proceedings, fight desperately to remain. Why should America gleefully import people who despise America and what it stands for? America owes international students nothing beyond fair consideration of their applications. Those who come here should demonstrate genuine respect for American institutions, values, and people. Students who view America as their enemy while simultaneously seeking the benefits of American education and an American career represent a contradiction this country should no longer tolerate.
The Secretary of State is absolutely justified in requiring extreme vetting of social media accounts. Had the United States Embassy resorted to this level of vetting with Tashfeen Malik, the radicalized Pakistani woman who entered on a fiancé visa, the San Bernardino attacks that killed 14 people would never have happened. Despite being vocal online about radical jihadist views, Malik still made it through the visa process. The Trump administration's enhanced screening represents a return to common sense.
Critics will inevitably claim this constitutes discrimination, but it represents basic prudence. Every sovereign nation possesses the right to determine who gains entry based on their likelihood to contribute positively to society. When international students bring ideologies that justify violence against Americans or seek to undermine the very system that welcomes them, enhanced scrutiny is not just justified but essential.
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