To obtain a student visa, the American authorities now require to be able to control the content of the social networks of academics. A practice that questions and even discourages certain students and students.
Studying in the United States, in the best universities in the world, is a dream for many Swiss students. Kamil Lahlou is one of them. Ending his studies in the engineering of the living sciences at the EPFL, he was taken for a master’s project in a laboratory affiliated at Harvard University. A prestigious institution, “an opportunity in gold”, he recalls.
It was without counting on the Trump administration. At the end of May, against the backdrop of contestation of the government of Donald Trump and Propalestinian demonstrations in certain universities, the American president orders the suspension of student visa processes. In June, the procedures resume, but the American authorities now ask candidates to spend all their social media accounts in “public” in order to be able to verify the content.
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Discouraged students
For Kamil Lahlou, that’s too much. The young man gives up his place in Harvard. “I found it super intrusive to go look in people’s social networks,” he explains in the 19:30 of the RTS. “These are often practices that we find rather in dictatorships or authoritarian regimes. I was quite surprised by that from the United States. I did not want to undergo it.”
A decision reasoned both by examining his social networks – even if he ensures that he does not publish anything in politics -, but also by latent uncertainty in the American academic environment, which colleagues and teachers already on the spot have reported to him. “They had budget cuts, there was censorship compared to what you could say to complain, compared to the administration. And so, it was a very difficult decision to take, but I think it was the best in the end.”
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A safety measure
The displayed objective of the United States government is to detect any hostility towards the United States. But for the lawyer specializing in US Immigration JACI OHAYON’s law, “it is consular staff who must verify social networks. And what could exceed the limits can be very subjective.”
A hastily implemented measure, according to the lawyer based in Geneva, and whose contours are still not clearly defined. With her colleagues and sisters, she seeks to clarify the situation “We are studying the different cases to understand what is happening., To establish guidelines. What are these lines not to be crossed? What leads to visa refusals? Can we identify trends and advise our customers on this subject? We are still studying all of this.”
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While waiting to see more clearly, Jacaci Ohayon recommends candidates for a student visa not to delete their social media accounts, but to clean their publications well. “If this is something that you wouldn’t like your grandma, it shouldn’t be on your networks or on your phone,” she said.
Solicited for an interview, the United States Embassy in Switzerland has replied in writing to rejoice “to once again propose a limited number of appointments for visa applicants F, M and J.” – Student visas.
Looking forward to
A vagueness in which Marc*, another student in a Swiss university must navigate, is still awaiting his American visa. “You have to get into margins that are not even defined. We do not even know, in fact, which is ok and not ok to have on its networks. We can imagine that things related to Palestine, the administration, we do not have too much right. But, it is still quite shocking, especially in a country for whom the first amendment, freedom of expression, is so important.”
Not knowing when it was necessary to do, the academic has already rendered his social media accounts visible by all. “I had a few bizarre people ‘accounts who subscribed to me, but I deleted them all,” he said.
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Marc wanted to testify under the cover of anonymity. Like him, many students prefer not to speak publicly, for fear of seeing their year in the United States threatened. Despite the context, he is delighted to go study across the Atlantic. “The quality of the research is still quite exceptional. And the budgets too.”
As for Kamil, it is in Melbourne, Australia, that he will ultimately study the links between lung cancer and immune system.
Michael Maccabez
* Borrowed first name